Trump Says No More 'Death To America' In Iran

In this May 31, 2019 file photo, a demonstrator holds an anti-U.S. placard during the annual Quds, or Jerusalem Day rally in Tehran, Iran. The top line on the placard in Farsi translates to, Death to America, and the bottom line on the placard in Arabic translates to, Death to America. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

BY CALVIN WOODWARD, JON GAMBRELL

WASHINGTON (AP) — They still cry “death to America” in Iran.

President Donald Trump claimed otherwise in a Fox News interview as he took credit for a taming of Iran that is not apparent in its actions or rhetoric.

TRUMP, speaking about Iranians “screaming death to America” when Barack Obama was U.S. president: “They haven’t screamed ‘death to America’ lately.” — Fox News interview Friday.

THE FACTS: Not true. The death-to-America chant is heard routinely.

The chant, “marg bar Amreeka” in Farsi, dates back even before Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution. Once used by communists, it was popularized by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the revolution’s figurehead and Iran’s first supreme leader after the U.S. Embassy takeover by militants.

It remains a staple of hard-line demonstrations, meetings with current Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, official ceremonies, parliamentary sessions and main Friday prayer services in Tehran and across the country.

Some masters of ceremonies ask audiences to tone it down. But it was heard, for example, from the crowd this month when Khamenei exhorted thousands to stand up against U.S. “bullying.”

In one variation, a demonstrator at a Quds rally in Tehran last month held a sign with three versions of the slogan: “Death to America” in Farsi, “Death to America” in Arabic,” ″Down with U.S.A.” in English.

Gambrell reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

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UNHCR Welcomes South Sudan’s Accession To International Convention To Protect Internally Displaced

Abraham Bidal, here with his wife Betty and two-month-old child, has been a refugee three times, fleeing to Uganda every time. He noticed less trees on each journey. Image: Michele Sibiloni/UNHCR

KAMPALA JUNE 14, 2019 (UNHCR) -- The United Nations Refugee Agency, the UNHCR, welcomes South Sudan’s accession this month to the African Union Convention for the Protection and Assistance of Internally Displaced Persons in Africa, also known as the Kampala Convention.

South Sudan becomes the 28th African Union Member State that has acceded to the Convention, the world’s first and only regional legally binding instrument for the protection and assistance of internally displaced people (IDPs).

“Given the pressing mass displacement challenges facing South Sudan, accession to the Kampala Convention is a significant milestone for the protection and assistance of almost two million internally displaced South Sudanese,” said UNHCR’s Assistant High Commissioner for Protection, Volker Türk.

More than four million people, including an estimated 1.8 million IDPs, find themselves forcibly displaced from or within South Sudan owing to conflict and violence.

IDPs often face heightened risks, violations and sexual violence because of their displacement, while they struggle to access their rights and basic protection. As a result, they remain in dire need of humanitarian assistance.

For South Sudanese IDPs, housing, land and property issues are also a concern, particularly for women and child-headed families, the majority of whom find their homes destroyed or occupied by others.

Accession to the Kampala Convention is an affirmation by States of their primary responsibility to protect, assist and provide solutions for IDPs. The Convention also calls for national and regional actions to prevent arbitrary displacement, to ensure IDPs are protected and assisted, and to support durable solutions.

To give effect to the provisions of the Convention, countries that accede may need to take further steps for its implementation by passing national legislation.

UNHCR, which supported the African Union, including through the process of drafting the Convention, supports governments in ensuring its incorporation into domestic law. In collaboration with the African Commission on International Law, UNHCR has assisted the development and dissemination of a model law on the Kampala Convention.

Globally, 41 million people remain displaced inside their own countries as a result of armed conflict, generalized violence or human rights violations.

To address internal displacement across Africa and to provide a legal framework for the protection and assistance of IDPs, the Kampala Convention was adopted at a meeting of the African Union (AU) in October 2009. This year marks ten years since its adoption.

The AU is one of UNHCR’s most important partners and a leader in global efforts to resolve forced displacement. Under its watch, landmark treaties on refugees and on internal displacement have been adopted to help millions in Africa and beyond.

The AU has designated 2019 as its “Year of Refugees, Returnees and Internally Displaced Persons”, with the aim of promoting durable solutions to forced displacement in Africa.

A series of events are being organised to commemorate the anniversaries of two of its major treaties on forced displacement in Africa: The 50th anniversary of the adoption of the 1969 OAU Refugee Convention, and the 10th anniversary of the adoption of the Kampala Convention. These events are being supported by UNHCR and other partners.

UNHCR urges AU Member States who have not yet done so to ratify and implement these conventions.

US Extradition Case Against Assange Set For Next Year

Assange supporters hold a banner to protest outside Westminster Magistrates Court in London, Friday, June 14, 2019. WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is expected to appear via a video link at court Friday, as he continues his fight against extradition to the United States, where he faces prosecution under the Espionage Act. (AP Photo/Frank Augstein)

BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

LONDON (AP) — A British court has set a date early next year for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to face a U.S. extradition attempt over his role in revealing classified government and military information.

Ben Brandon, a British lawyer representing the U.S. government, told a court hearing Friday that the case “related to one of the largest compromises of confidential information in the history of the United States.”

U.S. officials are seeking to prosecute Assange under the Espionage Act, blaming him for directing WikiLeaks’ publication of a huge trove of secret documents that disclosed the names of people who provided confidential information to American and coalition forces in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Assange asserts that he is a journalist with First Amendment protections and is fighting the extradition attempt. Judge Emma Arbuthnot set a full extradition hearing for Feb. 25, 2020. It is expected to last about five days.

Assange’s lawyer, Mark Summers, said the case represents an outrageous and full-frontal assault on journalistic rights.”

The 47-year-old Australian hacker is currently in Belmarsh Prison on the outskirts of London serving a 50-week sentence for jumping bail in Britain.

He was too ill to attend a recent hearing and appeared at Friday’s hearing at Westminster Magistrates’ Court by video link from prison.

NIGERIA: Plagiarism – What Can Curb The Scourge?

Image: Via Wikipedia

BY TUNDE FATUNDE

Does the high incidence of plagiarism among students in Nigeria point to the need for more support and mentoring for students or more effective sanctions against those found to be guilty? Or maybe both?

Earlier this year Professor Peter Okebukola, one-time executive secretary of the National Universities Commission (NUC), repeated his concerns about the rising rate of plagiarism among students in universities.

The previous November, during the first in a series of education lectures at Kwara State University, he claimed that 60% of long essays by final-year undergraduates contained plagiarism; at masters level it was between 15-20% and at PhD level about 8% contained plagiarism.

Worried about the erosion of academic values and the potent dangers of plagiarism, many academic staff are in favour of stiffer penalties against students and staff who aid and abet plagiarism.

No penalties

Interviewed by Punch, Dr Daniel Ekhareafo, a lecturer at the University of Benin, said it rarely happens that a student is disciplined for plagiarism because lecturers intervene.

“The student can ask another lecturer to plead with the project supervisor and in some cases, the lecturer can compromise and ask for money in order to clear the student,” he reportedly said.

Professor Hyacinth Ichoku, vice-chancellor of the University of Veritas, Abuja, was of the view that there is insufficient mentoring of students by their teachers and awareness of the principles of research ethics.

He suggested the need for a series of workshops to look at the various dimensions of plagiarism and how to detect them.

He warned that proven cases of plagiarism could lead to court litigation where both the student and the teacher, and even the university could be slapped with sanctions and penalties.

“This kind of a scenario could be a source of national and international embarrassment to the university, especially in this era of university rankings,” he said in an interview with University World News.

Initiatives to stamp out the increasing plagiarism plague have been undertaken. For example, Dr Emmanuel Unuabonah, a chemistry lecturer at the Redeemers University at Ede in the south western region, created a movement known as the Nigerian Young Academy (NYA), an offshoot of the Nigerian Academy of Science (NAS) for young scientists.

Education about plagiarism pitfalls

The mission of this group of young scientists and researchers is to lead the fight against plagiarism by educating people about its pitfalls in a country which has more than 150 public and private universities and colleges.

At one of its anti-plagiarism workshops, the association recorded the presence of about 350 participants. In consonance with their mission statement, NYA has even dismissed one of its members who was found guilty of plagiarism and recently made what it called “improper copying” a dismissible offence.

High-profile cases

There have been some high-profile cases of plagiarism in Nigeria. Academic publishers Taylor and Francis retracted a total of 10 publications written by Oluwaseun Bamidele, a specialist in terrorism, after it emerged that they contained plagiarism. Bamidele later admitted that he had plagiarised, and tendered his apologies. He told Retraction Watch that “he didn’t learn about what constitutes plagiarism until his graduate studies, after he’d already written the now-retracted manuscripts”.

“If I had known before then, it would not have happened,” he is reported to have told Retraction Watch.

Research suggests that in Nigeria, plagiarism is viewed as widespread. A 2010 survey of 133 Nigerian scientists, conducted by physician Patrick Okonta of Delta State University Teaching Hospital in Otefe and published in 2014 in BMC Medical Ethics, found that 88% believed plagiarism and other forms of misconduct were common at their institutions.

Sanctions for those staff committing plagiarism are not unheard of. According to a recent news report, the vice-chancellor of Delta State University (DSU) announced in May that in a bid to instil academic discipline and honesty, the institution had sanctioned more than 15 lecturers for various forms of publication-related plagiarism. According to a source at the university such sanctions involved demotions and no promotions for periods between three and five years.

In 2016, two lecturers of the University of Calabar, one of whom was a professor, were reported to have been dismissed for plagiarism.

Detection software

One of the methods used throughout the world to fight plagiarism is anti-plagiarism software such as Turnitin, which screens text and identifies 'borrowed' material.

At the computer science department at Lagos State University, a team of researchers led by Dr Toyin Enikuomehin has developed new, more sophisticated and more secure software to detect plagiarised works across institutions.

“We are still experimenting with this software. When we complete the test and with the support of the university authorities, we shall deploy it, first to the university and later beyond”, said Enikuomehin in an interview with University World News.

Enikuomehin said other factors aiding the increase in plagiarism included a lack of preparedness among students admitted into universities.

Lack of preparedness

“Many of those who have looked into plagiarism overlook one crucial factor: the admission of candidates into the university. Not all candidates given admission are intellectually equipped to handle concepts; this is an indispensable tool for an understanding of research methodologies,” he said.

He said this deficiency was coupled with the fact that the reading culture among students is poor.

“Before they get to their final year when they are mandated to plan and establish the framework for their projects, they are handicapped. Consequently the easiest route to writing their final year project is to plagiarise research papers developed by others in some other institutions.

“This deficiency was observed in our research leading to the establishment of our anti-plagiarism software,” said Enikuomehin.

According to Dr Prisca Adewole, director of a multinational company which produces food and sanitary equipment, adequate funding of institutions is also a crucial factor.

“Research leading to the write-ups of final year project papers at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels requires the provision of standard laboratories and libraries so as to prevent the obvious temptation of copying works already published. We noticed this deficiency when we recruit graduates into our research units,” said Adewole.

SOURCE: UNIVERSITY WORLD NEWS

US And African Envoys Push For Sudan Solution

Fewer members of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces were seen patrolling Khartoum than in previous days (AFP Photo)

BY JAY DESHMUKH, MENNA ZAKI

KHARTOUM (AFP) - US and African Union diplomats stepped up efforts Thursday to find a peaceful solution to a standoff between Sudan's protesters and generals following a deadly crackdown on demonstrators.

The diplomatic push comes after protesters demanding civilian rule called off a nationwide civil disobedience campaign and agreed to resume talks with the generals who ousted veteran leader Omar al-Bashir in April.

Traffic jams returned to downtown Khartoum and some shops in the capital's famous gold market began to reopen Thursday as more residents and office employees ventured out.

Fewer troops and members of the feared paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, who protesters and rights groups accuse of leading the June 3 crackdown on protestors, were on the streets in downtown Khartoum, according to an AFP correspondent who toured parts of the capital.

But they were deployed in force in the northern district of Bahari, a bastion of protests against the ruling military council.

Several parts of the city suffered electricity cuts early on Thursday, while internet services remained erratic.

"Today is my first day to work after the campaign ended but I'm not in the mood to work," said Suheir Hassan, an employee at a government office.

"Because, on my way I passed by the sit-in area and remembered that all those voices who used to chant revolutionary slogans have now disappeared."

Protesters ended their disobedience campaign late on Tuesday and agreed to hold fresh talks with the ruling generals following mediation led by Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed.

Demonstrators launched the strike after men in military fatigues carried out a brutal assault on a sit-in of thousands of people outside the army headquarters last week, killing dozens.

- Protesters brief US envoys -

Washington and the AU, who have consistently pushed for civilian-led rule following Bashir's ouster, stepped up efforts to find a solution Thursday.

Washington's newly appointed special envoy to Sudan Donald Booth, along with US Assistant Secretary of State for Africa Affairs Tibor Nagy, were scheduled to meet General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, head of the ruling military council on Thursday.

It was still unclear if the meeting took place.

Washington said Booth had been named to help craft a "peaceful solution" to the crisis that has rocked the northeast African country.

The Alliance for Freedom and Change umbrella protest movement said that its leaders briefed the two US officials on Wednesday on the need for a transparent investigation in the June 3 killings.

They also called for the withdrawal of "militias" from the streets in Khartoum and other towns, an end to the internet blockade and the establishment of a civilian administration, it said in a statement.

The AU, which suspended Sudan following the crackdown, said global efforts were on to resolve the crisis.

"I can say without excess optimism that the discussions that we are holding with each side separately are moving forward to a great extent," AU Special Envoy to Sudan Mohamed El Hacen Lebatt told reporters Thursday.

An international team of diplomats was working to resolve the crisis, he added.

- Demand for guarantees -

The US diplomats were also expected to meet Thursday with top envoys of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt in Khartoum.

Experts say the three regional Arab nations appear to back the generals.

Days after Bashir's overthrow, Saudi Arabia and the UAE offered a three-billion-dollar aid package to Khartoum, including a $500 million cash injection into the central bank to help support the Sudanese pound which has plunged since last year against the dollar.

It was the country's worsening economic crisis that first triggered the protests against Bashir's iron-fisted rule.

Talks between the protest leaders and generals broke down in mid-May over disagreements on who should lead a new governing body -- a civilian or a soldier.

Relations worsened following the crackdown, with protest leaders now insisting any agreement reached with the generals have "regional and international" guarantees for it to be implemented.

Sudan has been led by a military council since the generals ousted Bashir on April 11 after months of nationwide protests against his three-decade rule.

Protesters remained encamped outside the military headquarters in Khartoum for weeks afterwards demanding civilian rule, until the June 3 crackdown.

Around 120 people have been killed since then, according to doctors close to the protesters. The health ministry has acknowledged 61 people died nationwide.

Firm seeks $9 bln Nigerian Asset Seizure Over Unpaid Gas Project Arbitration

* Award involves aborted 2010 gas project in Calabar

* Initial $6.6 bln figure grew as interest accumulated

* Nigeria sought to claim state immunity

* $9 billion is 20% of foreign reserves, roughly 2% of GDP

BY LIBBY GEORGE

LONDON (REUTERS) - A firm incorporated in the British Virgin Islands will ask a British court on Friday for the right to seize up to $9 billion of Nigerian government assets - some 20% of the oil-rich nation’s foreign reserves - over an aborted gas project.

The case highlights a risk to Nigeria’s foreign assets, potentially clouding its appeal to some investors.

The request is part of a long-running saga over a 2010 deal in which the Nigerian government agreed to supply gas to a processing plant in Calabar on the country’s southeast coast that Process and Industrial Developments Ltd (P&ID) – a little-known firm founded by two Irish business men specifically for the project - would build and run.

When the deal went south, P&ID won a $6.6 billion award at arbitration, based on what it could have earned during the 20-year agreement. It now says the total owed has ballooned to $9 billon because of interest accrued since 2013 .

Nigeria has tried to nullify the award, saying it was not subject to international arbitration but British courts rejected the argument. P&ID is now asking the Commercial Court in London to convert the arbitration into a judgement, which would allow them to try to seize international assets.

A source close to President Muhammadu Buhari said they were fully aware of the matter and the government “is not sleeping”, adding they were optimistic the matter could be resolved in the courts. There are also proceedings pending at a U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C.

Buhari, who was inaugurated for a second term on May 29, has not yet appointed cabinet ministers, and officials contacted by Reuters said the lack of an attorney general or petroleum minister made it difficult for anyone to comment on the record.

“This is a problem that the Nigerians are not facing up to in any serious way,” said Andrew Stafford, Q.C. of Kobre & Kim LLP, which is representing P&ID.

Experts said it would be difficult for Nigeria to fully extricate itself.

“Under UK legislation, state immunity does not operate to protect a sovereign state where it has entered into an arbitration agreement,” said Simon Sloane, a partner with UK law firm Fieldfisher.

He added that going after state assets following arbitration had become a well-trodden path over the past 15 years and it would be difficult for Nigeria to avoid paying compensation.

While assets that are used for diplomatic purposes – such as the Nigerian High Commission building in central London – were off the table, commercial assets were up for grabs.

In 2008, a UK court ruled that proceeds of oil sales from Chad held in an international account intended to repay World Bank loans were fair game for seizure.

Experts also said that the involvement of hedge fund VR Group, which has a stake in P&ID, signalled that it is unlikely to let the issue drop.

“They could still come to a settlement,” Sloane said. “As it’s a consensual process the parties can agree to settle, and settle for significantly below the $9 billion figure.” (Additional reporting by Felix Onuah and Camillus Eboh in Abuja, editing by Alexis Akwagyiram and Kirsten Donovan)
Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

The Surprising Truth About Extreme Poverty

Image via Counter Currents

BY DYLAN MATTHEWS

VOX

In discussions of poverty in the US, child poverty tends to get most of the focus.

And I think there are good reasons for that. While the US has more poverty than other rich countries in general, it is a particular outlier on child poverty. In 2016, the US poverty rate for children (defined as the share living on less than half the median income) was 20.9 percent, compared to 14.2 percent in Canada, 11.8 percent in the UK, and a tiny 8.9 percent in Sweden. We’re just about the only rich country without some kind of per-child cash grantdistributed to most parents.

But lately I’ve started thinking that the US poverty discussion focuses a little too much around kids and not enough around childless adults.

I want to be clear: I still think offering a simple cash allowance to all parents, like almost all other rich countries do, would be very good policy. It’s an elegant and popular way to cut poverty, and there are developmental benefits that don’t apply as much when you’re supporting adults without children.

I’m just saying that families with kids aren’t the only ones — and perhaps aren’t even the primary ones — in need of additional assistance.

I recently got a hold of an unpublished paper by sociologists David Brady and Zachary Parolin, which tried to estimate how extreme poverty in the US has changed from 1997 to 2015 (you can read a related paper from them on child poverty here).

Among other things, Brady and Parolin find that the share of extremely poor households — those living on less than 10 percent of the median American income — with kids has been falling. In 2013-15, only 16.4 percent of extremely poor people lived in households with children, down from 31.6 percent in 1993-95. The rest lived in households of adults without dependent kids.

What’s more, they find that extreme poverty did not rise between 1993 and 2016 for people in households with children. By contrast, it more than doubled for individuals in childless households.

Why is extreme poverty concentrated in childless households?

Brady and Parolin aren’t alone in finding this. And their explanation for why childless poverty is outstripping child and parent poverty as a problem is startling: food stamps (formally known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or SNAP) have expanded much more for families with kids than for others.

“Without SNAP, extreme poverty would be rising for [households] with children,” Parolin explains in an email. “With SNAP, it remains low and declines from the late 1990s onward.”

The paper doesn’t identify the main reason that SNAP did so much less to reduce extreme poverty among childless people. But a significant factor is likely the Able-Bodied Adults Without Dependents (ABAWDs) rule, which imposes a time limit of three months of benefits every three years for non-disabled adults not working at least 20 hours a week.

As it happens, we know a lot more about what ABAWDs does than we used to because it was waived in many places until recently, due to high unemployment in the wake of the Great Recession.

A recent Urban Institute study found that in Kentucky counties where the requirement returned, food stamp enrollment among non-disabled childless adults fell by 44 percent. In counties where the requirement didn’t return, enrollment in the group was stable.

The implication is clear: This requirement is incredibly effective at keeping childless adults from receiving food stamps — and thus likely contributing to miring them in poverty.

Now, I don’t know that this rule specifically is behind the increase in extreme poverty. My guess is that it plays a role, but Brady and Parolin don’t single it out. That said, removing it would be a relatively simple way to ensure that more resources go to poor adults without children.

And we shouldn’t stop there. Twenty-six states have general assistance programs, which offer cash assistance to childless adults. In 15, recipients have to be disabled or otherwise “unemployable,” but 11 states, including large ones like California, New York, and New Jersey, offer benefits to non-disabled adults who don’t have another source of income.

These programs have gotten rarer in recent decades and stingier. Between 1998 and 2015, benefits in California fell from $324 a month to $221.

A national general assistance scheme for all childless people, regardless of disability level, would be a natural way to plug this hole in the safety net. And luckily, there’s now a bill in Congress that would achieve that: The Lift Plus Act from Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) would provide a flat $3,000 per adult cash stipend each year for low-income households.

If we want to take childless poverty seriously, it’s a good place to start.

SOURCE: VOX

Between Regulation And Press Freedom

Image: Reporters Without Borders

BY EMMA OKONJI

ABUJA (THIS DAY) -- Technology evolution has brought about convergence of different technologies and networks, thereby creating a thin line between regulation and technology. But the media is at the centre of the controversy emanating from this new development, writes Emma Okonji

The recent shutdown and reopening of Daar Communications Network, owners of AIT Television and RayPower radio stations by the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), has been seen as a clash of interests between the regulator and the media.

While the media has interest and right to express its views through digital broadcasting in relation to press freedom, the regulatory body has the authority to regulate the activities of operators within the ambient of the law,

However, technology evolution is beginning to draw a thin line between regulation and technology through which broadcasting activities are carried out by the media and other operators who play active roles in the broadcasting space. Based on technology evolution and its power of convergence, industry regulators need to exercise caution in their regulatory activities to avoid stifling technology and media growth.

Last week’s pronouncement of the indefinite suspension of the operational licence of Daar Communications and the subsequent shutdown of its operations in Nigeria by the NBC for alleged violation of broadcasting laws, as well as the shutting down of social media sites in Liberia by the Liberian government, are clear actions of intimidation and attempt to cage the media, and other players in the technology space, which the world must guard against.

Licence suspension

The NBC had announced the indefinite suspension of the licence of Daar Communications Plc. The Director-General of NBC, Modibbo Kawu, announced the suspension of the licence and the subsequent shutdown of the operations of AIT television and RayPower radio.

According to Kawu, the action was taken for failure of the stations to abide by the broadcasting code.

“AIT/Raypower embarked on use of inflammatory, divisive, inciting broadcasts, and media propaganda against the government and the NBC for performing its statutory functions of regulating the broadcast industry in Nigeria.

“Consequently, after several meetings with management of Daar Communications Plc and many letters of warning, the NBC, on June 6th, 2019, took a decision to suspend the licence of Daar Communications Plc for failure to abide by the Commission’s directives, the provisions of the NBC Act Cap N11. The shut down order is until further notice,” Kawu said.

He explained that the regulatory agency had been monitoring the stations for a long time and had issued warnings that were defied.

“Following monitoring reports and complaints from concerned Nigerians about the broadcast contents of Daar Communications Plc’s AIT/Raypower broadcast stations, the NBC have over the last two years, summoned, on several occasions, the management of the company to address issues regarding the operations of AIT/Raypower with the company, particularly, Political Platform and Kakaaki aired on AIT,” he said.

“In one of our meetings, held on 2nd June, 2017, the Commission expressed its disappointment with the way and manner hate speech, divisive and inciting comments were applied in discussion of national issues in breach of the provisions of the NBC Act and Broadcast Code,” Kawu further said.

Stakeholders’ Reactions

Following the suspension of the licence of Daar Communications and the shutdown of its operations, several groups and individuals expressed their opinion over the matter. Some condemned the action of the NBC, which they described as a deliberate attempt to undermine freedom of expression of the media and to stifle press growth and freedom.

From the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC), to PDP Governors Forum, including the Senate President of the eight National Assembly, NGO and advocacy groups, all faulted the action of the the regulatory body in shutting down the operations of an independent broadcast station, without following due process.

In a statement by the NLC President, Ayuba Waba, the labour movement urged the federal government to caution all its agencies and commissions against taking any action(s) that contravenes democratic standards.

He said that NLC viewed the suspension of these licences as premeditated attacks on the media ultimately aimed at circumscribing our collective freedom. NLC advised NBC to approach the judiciary rather than take unilateral actions that eventually affects the rights of the citizens to information and knowledge.

In the same vein, the PDP Governors Forum, also condemned the NBC’s action, describing it as an act of repression against the media and a threat to the growth of democracy.

The governors stated this in a communiqué read by the Chairman of the Forum and Governor òf Bayelsa State, Seriake Dickson. after its meeting in Abuja.

The governors said: “When you shut down news outlets, when you harass and intimidate journalists, then you are threatening the growth of democracy. We condemn it and call on the federal government to do what is right.”

President of the Eighth Senate, Dr. Bukola Saraki, in a statement signed by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Yusuph Olaniyonu, stated that the actions of NBC could cast aspersions on Nigeria’s commitment to the freedom of the press and must be avoided.

“Regulators though necessary, must know that all such actions that give the impression of the endangering of the freedom of the press or freedom of speech cast our nation in a bad light. Such issues need to be handled in a better manner,” Saraki said.

The Coalition of United Political Parties (CUPP), also condemned the suspension of the licences and shutdown of AIT and RayPower FM by the NBC, describing it as despotic authoritarian, barbaric and a complete reversal of the democratic gains the country had made in the last two decades.

The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) also joined others in condemning the action of NBC.

SERAP in a statement signed by its deputy director, Kolawole Oluwadare said: “These grounds are so subjective that if allowed to stand would seriously undermine freedom of expression, media freedom and access to information in the country. The mere fact that forms of expression on AIT/Raypower are considered by NBC to be insulting is not sufficient to justify the indefinite suspension. These grounds do not meet the requirements of legality, reasonableness, due process, necessity and proportionality.”

Also, Paradigm Initiative, an advocacy group, joined forces in condemning the action of the NBC, describing it as undemocratic and capable of stifling free expression and the freedom of the press. Paradigm Initiative in a statement signed by its CEO, Mr. Gbenga Sesan, said the NBC failed to recognise and understand that the press has the freedom to report expressions by citizens, just the same way citizens have the freedom to express opinions, however controversial.

Daar Communications’ reaction
In the midst of the outrage by Nigerians over the indefinite suspension of the licence of Daar Communications, its founder, Dr. Raymond Dokpesi, sensing the action of NBC and the body language of the presidency, had earlier before the suspension of the licence, filed an exparte application before a Federal High Court in Abuja, seeking an order, setting aside the action of the electronic broadcast regulator.

Dokpesi had accused President Muhammadu Buhari of stifling free speech by working to shut down AIT and Raypower FM.

Dokpesi said: “I believe very strongly that under the leadership of the current Director General of the NBC, press freedom has been greatly eroded. If this was not protected by the President at the top, is it possible that his body language is being interpreted?

“I have it on strict authority and very assured information that the highest echelons of government, the Presidency, queried and challenged the NBC that they were not doing their jobs: ‘How on earth could they be hearing and seeing on AIT what they termed hate speech?’

“Any criticism of this government is hate speech. The NBC is acting under the authority of the President and Commander-in-Chief.”

Reversal order

Following the exparte application filed by Dokpesi, Justice Inyang Ekwo after hearing the application, ordered parties in the suit to maintain status quo ante bellum as at May 30, 2019, pending the hearing and determination of Daar Communications Plc’s suit challenging the closure of its broadcast stations.

The Judge also ordered the NBC, the Attorney General of the Federation and Ministry of Information and Culture to appear before him today June 13, over the shutdown and suspension of the broadcast licence of Daar Communications Plc.

Justice Ekwo, in his ruling on the exparte application filed and argued by Benson Igbanoi of Chief Mike Ozekhome’s chamber, granted the alternative prayer of the applicant, while he held that prayers one and two cannot be granted without first hearing from other parties.

The plaintiff prayed the court to restrain the defendants from invading or closing down the premises of Daar Communication, its operations or broadcast services, pending the hearing and determination of the motion on notice filed along with this application.

In obeying the court order, NBC immediately reopened the stations , pending the final outcome of the court case.

Kawu, who spoke with THISDAY on telephone shortly after the reopening of the television and radio stations, said the commission had to obey court order, hence the stations were reopened.

NPO’s intervention

The Nigerian Press Organisation (NPO), which comprises Newspapers Proprietors Association of Nigeria (NPAN), Broadcasting Organisations of Nigeria (BON), The Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE) and The Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ), has, however, resolved the crisis between Daar Communications and its regulator, the NBC.

The crisis was resolved by NPO on Sunday night. President of NPO, who doubles as President of NPAN, Nduka Obaigbena, last Sunday, convened a meeting of all parties to resolve the issues, where it was agreed that the suspension be lifted with immediate effect, and DAAR Communications Plc will withdraw its case in court against the NBC, while all parties will take necessary steps to work together to build confidence in the public interest.

Other agreements reached at the meeting were that DAAR Communications Plc will work out a new realistic payment plan with the NBC and ensure prompt payments in accordance with the new plan, and as well appoint an Ombudsman to ensure balance in its news coverage especially political commentary. The meeting also agreed that henceforth, it will also take full editorial responsibility for the use of content sourced from social media outlets.

According to a statement from NPO, the NBC, at the meeting restated their commitments to freedom of expression and the constitutionally guaranteed role of the media under sections 22 and 39 to hold governments accountable, which states amongst others that the press, radio, television and other agencies of mass media are to uphold the fundamental objectives contained in the 1999 constitution and ensure the responsibility and accountability of the government to the people.

Liberia blocks social media

Just as Nigerians are slugging it out with NBC over the shutdown and reopening of the broadcasting operations of Daar Communications, Liberians are also having tough time with the Liberian government over the blocking of several social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram in that country, making it difficult for her citizens to access the social media.

It is reported that the platforms were blocked in reaction to the ongoing anti-government protests in the capital, Monrovia. The protests, which have been tagged ‘Save the State’, were against the high inflation rates and corruption in the country.

Reacting to the action of the Liberian government, Paradigm Initiative, an advocacy group, expressly condemned the act and declared that it is an affront to the freedom of expression amidst other civil liberties which belong to the citizens and residents of Liberia.

In a statement, the Chief Executive Officer of Paradigm Initiative, Mr. Gbenga Sesan, said: “Article 15 of the Liberia Constitution 1986 states that every person shall have the right to freedom of expression. So the act of blocking access to the internet or to social media platforms for whatever reason is a gross violation of citizens’ freedom of expression.

“The government of Liberia must be aware of the social, cultural, educative and economic value and relevance of the Internet. Business and human lives thrive not only on communication but on other benefits provided by social media platforms and the internet, and to block access to same is to act tyrant and disregard the liberties of the people. Grave and serious legal and historic impacts will be occasioned as a result of the action of the Liberia government.”

OTT regulation

In Nigeria, operators of Over the Top Technology (OTT) who offer free telecoms services through WhatsApp and Skype, while riding on the platform of traditional telecoms operators like MTN, Globacom and Airtel, has been accused by the traditional telecoms operators of running down their voice services business, thus eating deep into their source of revenue generation. They went further to ask the telecoms regulator to regulate the activities of OTT players, which the regulator turned down, citing instances where it could be seen as stifling the growth of the emerging technologies in the process of regulating the activities of OTT.

The International Telecommunications Union (ITU), the body regulating the global activities of telecoms operations, in a recent statement, warned country specific regulators not to regulate OTT technology.

Governments across the world, especially in African, should begin to understand the emergence of digital technology, especially in digital broadcasting, and do well not to stifle its growth in an attempt to over-regulate its activities.

SOURCE: THIS DAY

Why Did A U.S. Mission In Niger Turn Deadly?

A U.S. Army carry team transfers the remains of Army Staff Sgt. Dustin Wright of Lyons, Ga., Oct. 5, 2017, upon arrival at Dover Air Force Base, Del.

BY THE ABC NEWS INVESTIGATIVE UNIT

New reporting raises questions about the Pentagon’s answer, which placed most of the blame on a special operations team.

DEBRA GANNON’S SON, Sgt. 1st Class Jeremiah Johnson, was one of four U.S. special operations soldiers killed in Niger on October 4, 2017, when Islamist fighters ambushed their team. The clash near Tongo Tongo was the deadliest for U.S. forces in Africa since the “Black Hawk Down” battle in Mogadishu, Somalia, 24 years earlier. The foggy circumstances of the gunfight—the subject of much debate—have confused the families of the fallen, and the public.

Gannon believes her son, along with Staff Sgt. Bryan Black, Staff Sgt. Dustin Wright, and Sgt. LaDavid Johnson, fought heroically. But in an investigation into what went wrong, the military laid much of the blame on the team rather than its senior commanders. The Marine Corps general overseeing U.S. military operations in Africa praised special operations units for “serving well,” but pointed out, “This particular team is not indicative of what they do.”

The military’s conclusions stung the families of the deceased soldiers and contradicted what they were hearing from other team members and news reports. “That really infuriated me,” Gannon says. “They’re trying to make them look bad.”

Gannon’s son was part of a 10-man team training, advising, and working with 34 Nigerian soldiers. As they returned to base after searching a campsite recently used by an Islamic State affiliate leader, they were attacked by more than a hundred extremists.

Myeshia Johnson sobs over the casket of fallen soldier and husband, Sgt. La David Johnson, who was killed in Niger.

In a yearlong investigation, ABC News learned from multiple sources that the Pentagon, in briefings for the grieving families, withheld information about the crucial decisions that put their sons in harm’s way. Most significantly, sources inside and outside the armed forces told ABC that the team’s captain had strenuously objected to the mission, calling it too dangerous for his lightly armed unit, which was given scant intelligence and no armed backup. He was overruled by his commanders.

“If he had been listened to,” says Hank Black, “my son and Jeremiah, LaDavid, and Dustin would be here today.”

The Army general who led the initial investigation into the firefight said it was his “solemn responsibility” to the families of the fallen soldiers to be “accurate and transparent.” But in exclusive interviews with ABC News, family members say they are outraged and anguished by the military’s conclusions, which the Defense Department has reaffirmed.

Myeshia Johnson, LaDavid Johnson’s widow, says her family has been through “so much pain and so much suffering,” but won’t be able to heal without knowing the full truth. “I feel like they’re covering everything up,” she says. “Just say what really happened. That’s all you have to do.”

After receiving the Pentagon’s final report on June 5, family members were stunned and angered, saying that it failed to disclose important facts and downplayed the captain’s objections. They pledged to keep pushing the U.S. military for answers until the truth is known.

“We are not done fighting,” says Gannon.

SOURCE: NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC

Mike Tyson Wants To Expand His California Ranch Into 'The Lollapalooza Of Cannabis'

Mike Tyson in his cannabis ranch. Image: Instagram via Metro

BY EMMA SPEARS

Iron Mike plans to use the resort to hold a music festival, build a video game arena and install a “lazy river” where guests can float and chill.

Boxing legend Mike Tyson has announced that he is building a 407-acre, cannabis-themed resort in southern California.

Tyson has long been a cannabis enthusiast, even owning his own cannabis farm. Now the 52-year-old wants to expand by turning his California ranch into “the Lollapalooza of cannabis.”

Tyson’s ranch already has 20-acre reserved for cannabis cultivation. His portfolio of cannabis endeavours includes the Tyson Ranch and the Tyson Cultivation School — which teaches farmers how to successfully grow cannabis and develop signature cultivars, all under a company called Tyson Holistic Holdings.

Iron Mike says he plans to use the resort to hold a music festival, build a video game arena and install a “lazy river” where guests can float and chill.

“I thought about how much good I could do by helping people with cannabis. It was a no-brainer,” Tyson told Cannabis & Tech Today earlier this year. “I’ve been fighting for over 20 years, and my body has a lot of wear and tear. I had two surgeries and I used marijuana to calm my nerves, and it would take the pain away. But before, they had me on those opiates, and those opiates had me all screwed up.”

The resort intends to educate guests on the benefits of cannabis consumption, as well as allowing them a safe space to consume, enjoy live music and relax.

“He’s building a holistic centre for health and wellness,” said Tyson’s business partner Rob Hickman. “There will be testing at the university. It’s going to be about educating people on the healing benefits, how to grow, and how to be in proper business.”

Want to keep up to date on what’s happening in the world of cannabis? Subscribe to the Cannabis Post newsletter for weekly insights into the industry, what insiders will be talking about and content from across the Postmedia Network.

SOURCE: THE GROWTH OP

First Blood-Brain Barrier Chip Using Stem Cells Developed By Ben-Gurion University Researchers

In the new Ben-Gurion University of the Negev study, the researchers genetically manipulated blood cells collected from an individual into stem cells (known as induced pluripotent stem cells), which can produce any type of cell. The cells are placed on a microfluidic organ-chip developed by Emulate (above) approximately the size of an AA battery, which contains tiny hollow channels lined with tens of thousands of living human cells and tissues. Image: Dr. Gad Vatine/Ben-Gurion

BEN-GURION UNIVERSITY

BEER-SHEVA, ISRAEL (EUREK ALERT) - Researchers at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) and Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles have, for the first time, duplicated a patient's blood-brain barrier (BBB), creating a human BBB chip with stem cells, which can be used to develop personalized medicine and new techniques to research brain disorders.

The new research, published in the journal Cell Stem Cell, is a collaboration between Dr. Gad Vatine of BGU's Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research Center and Department of Physiology and Cell Biology and Dr. Clive N. Svendsen, of Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.

The blood-brain barrier blocks toxins and other foreign substances in the bloodstream from entering brain tissue and causing damage. But it also can prevent therapeutic drugs from reaching the brain. Neurological disorders such as multiple sclerosis, epilepsy, Alzheimer's disease, and Huntington's disease, which collectively affect millions worldwide, have been linked to a defective blood-brain barrier.

In the study, the researchers genetically manipulated blood cells collected from an individual into stem cells (known as induced pluripotent stem cells), which can produce any type of cell. These are used to create the various cells that comprise the blood-brain barrier. The cells are placed on a microfluidic BBB organ-chip approximately the size of an AA battery, which contains tiny hollow channels lined with tens of thousands of living human cells and tissues. This living, micro-engineered environment recreates the natural physiology and mechanical forces that cells experience within the human body, including the BBB.

The living cells recreate a functioning BBB, including blocking entry of certain drugs. Significantly, when this blood-brain barrier was derived from cells of patients with Allan-Herndon-Dudley syndrome, a rare congenital neurological disorder, and Huntington's disease patients, the barrier malfunctioned in the same way that it does in patients with these diseases.

"By combining patient-specific stem cells and organ-on-chip technology, we generated a personalized model of the human BBB," says Dr. Vatine. "BBB-on-chips generated from several individuals allows the prediction of the best suited brain drug in a personalized manner. The study's findings create dramatic new possibilities for precision medicine."

This is of particular importance for neurological diseases like epilepsy or schizophrenia, for which several FDA-approved drugs are available, but current treatment selections are largely based on trial and error.

"By combining organ-chip technology and human iPSC-derived tissue, we have created a neurovascular unit that recapitulates complex BBB functions, provides a platform for modeling inheritable neurological disorders, and advances drug screening, as well as personalized medicine," Dr. Vatine says.

The project was supported by the Israel Science Foundation, the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine and the Sherman Family Foundation.

About American Associates, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev



American Associates, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (AABGU) plays a vital role in sustaining David Ben-Gurion's vision: creating a world-class institution of education and research in the Israeli desert, nurturing the Negev community and sharing the University's expertise locally and around the globe. As Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) looks ahead to turning 50 in 2020, AABGU imagines a future that goes beyond the walls of academia. It is a future where BGU invents a new world and inspires a vision for a stronger Israel and its next generation of leaders. Together with supporters, AABGU will help the University foster excellence in teaching, research and outreach to the communities of the Negev for the next 50 years and beyond. Visit vision.aabgu.org to learn more.