A Pennsylvania man is accused of raping and killing his girlfriend’s 4-year-old son, and his mum is accused of helping him escape. 20-year-old Keith Jordan had been asked by his girlfriend to take care of her son, Bentley Miller, on March 21, because she had to go to work.
After Mackenzie Peters left for work, Jordan called his mother, Kristen Harold, 43, that same morning, telling her that Bentley was in need of medical attention.
On getting to the Super 8 motel in Butler, Pennsylvania where her son was staying, she picked Bentley who was bleeding profusely and started driving him to his biological father’s house. When he became unresponsive, she pulled over and called 911 at around 9:30 a.m. Bentley later died at Butler Memorial Hospital where he was rushed to.
Police disclosed that Kristen hid her son in the attic of an abandoned home in Butler to avoid police detection. They were both arrested and are being held in Butler County Prison. Court documents show that Bentley died as a result of severe blood loss due to sodomy.
He also had a severe burn to his left hand, bruises on his head, pelvic region, and extremities. Police said Jordan was alone with the child when he was assaulted.
He was charged with criminal homicide, rape of a child, aggravated indecent assault of a child, and involuntary deviate sexual intercourse causing serious bodily injury. Bentley’s mother was at work at the time of the incident, and investigators do not suspect she had any involvement in his death. She was charged with child endangerment and hindering apprehension.
The boy’s mother, Mackenzie Peters, was at work when the assault took place, yet police said she may be charged in the future as well, though what charges are unclear. Lambing was already facing charges of burglary, criminal trespass, and conspiracy as well as terroristic threats and harassment, and had failed to show up for a court appointment the day before the boy’s murder.
He had been arrested for retail theft in 2013 and had a bench warrant out for required payments as restitution. There is a possibility that the prosecutor may seek the death penalty for Lambing.
The baby Mackenzie and Jordan have together has been placed in protective custody.
The Rivers State Police Command has confirmed the attack on a bullion van by some suspected armed robbers in Igwuruta, Ikwerre Local Government Area of the state.
The Command’s Public Relations Officer DSP Omoni Nnamdi disclosed that the bullion van had been recovered but the robbers made away with millions of naira.
Nnamdi said the suspected armed robbers in a Toyota Highlander SUV shot at police officers escorting the bullion van and made away with undisclosed amount of money suspected to be in millions of Naira.
The police spokesman said the recovered bullion van is now in the custody of the police at the Special Anti-Robbery Squad headquarters.
Nnamdi also disclosed that a combined team of security personnel are now on the trail of the armed robbers in Ikwerre and adjourning local government areas.
Some witnesses of the incident said that the suspected armed robbers shot sporadically into the air before carting away the money.
Myanmar leader admits democratic government has fallen short of first-year hopes
Aung San Suu Kyi admitted her administration had not made as much progress as hoped
The former pro-democracy campaigner admitted her administration had not made as much progress as hoped in grappling with the legacy of half a century of military rule.
Her remarks in a televised speech echo wider fears that the Southeast Asian country is struggling to deal with a daunting range of social, economic and security problems. Her address also marks an inevitable comedown from the euphoria of a transition from junta rule that last year yielded the first civilian-dominated government since the 1960s.
Ms Aung San Suu Kyi used the 25-minute speech on Thursday to defend her record as well as acknowledge people’s disappointment. The leader widely known as “the Lady” or “Mother Suu” said she and her government had done what they could, but that the year since they were sworn in was “not a long period”.
“So, if you all think I am not good enough for our country and our people, if someone or some organisation can do better than us, we are ready to step down,” she added.
Her offer to quit appears largely rhetorical, as she still has reserves of support from her long campaign — including 15 years of house arrest — against the repressive former junta. She has no challengers from within her National League for Democracy, while the main opposition party remains tainted by its links to the former dictatorship.
Myanmar is among the poorest countries in Asia and the government has faced pressure as growth has slowed, the currency has slid and foreign direct investment has dipped. It is also confronted by a resurgence in decades-old internal conflicts involving ethnic regional militias, some near the border with China.
A statement from Ms Aung San Suu Kyi’s office highlighted the conflict between the ambitions of a nationwide peace process she launched in August and its difficulties in bringing the country’s myriad armed groups to the table. The nation was “now seeing red rays of hope spraying forth with brilliant colours,” the announcement insisted, before warning: “At such a time of great importance, undesirable destructive elements and instigations intended to harm peace might emerge.”
Ms Aung San Suu Kyi’s domestic critics have also raised concerns about her allegedly autocratic style and the continuation of some repressive military-era practices, including the arrests of people for defaming officials. She has been attacked overseas over her reluctance to take stronger action over reports of large-scale abuses of the Muslim Rohingya people by the military, which some state officials and media have dismissed as fabrications. The UN last week announced a probe into the claims of crimes including murder, rape and arson.
The Myanmar leader’s allies at home and abroad have defended her approach and pointed out that the military still controls crucial security ministries and a quarter of seats in parliament, giving it a veto on constitutional change.
Ms Aung San Suu Kyu is forced to rule as “state counsellor”, a bespoke title created for her a year ago to skirt a military-drafted constitutional rule that bars anyone whose children have foreign nationality from becoming president. The law — widely seen as aimed at Ms Aung San Suu Kyi — precludes her because her sons by her late British husband are UK citizens.
The Nigerian Navy on Friday 31/03/2017 said it had discovered and destroyed an illegal refinery with 1.59 million litres of illegally refined diesel during a mop-up operation in Port Harcourt.
Speaking at the destruction exercise, Commodore Williams Kayoda, the Commander of Nigerian Navy Ship (NNS) Pathfinder, however, said no arrest was made during the raid.
Kayoda said the navy deployed troops to the site after it got intelligence report about the illegal refinery situated around Iwofe, Rumuolumeni area of Port Harcourt.
“Troops arriving at the site discovered 24 metallic tanks with each containing 60,000 litres of petroleum product suspected to be illegally refined diesel.
“Similarly, we discovered wooden boats with 150,000 litres of diesel believed to be stolen diesel.
“The petroleum product was evacuated to a safe location before troops destroyed the illegal refinery using a Swamp Buggy machine which completely crushed the metallic tanks.
“This new strategy is part of our efforts to end current air pollution in Port Harcourt while making it difficult for oil thieves to revive illegal refineries after it was destroyed,” he said.
The commander said the use of “Swamp Buggy” was part of tactics which involved complete crushing of metal tanks rather than setting both storage tanks and petroleum products ablaze.
The new strategy was adopted following reports that burning of illegal refineries was partly responsible for current air pollution in Port Harcourt.
The Swamp Buggy strategy adopted by the navy replaces a former approach which involved setting ablaze illegal refineries and illegal bunker sites with its petroleum products.
Kayoda said the navy was committed to protecting the environment and health of residents and assured that it would carry out its mandate in line with standard practice.
“The Nigerian Navy will sustain this strategy until we bring this menace to a stop because the economic prosperity of the nation cannot be compromised to criminal individuals and groups.
“Operation Rivers Sweep which was concluded in February and being consolidated with ongoing Operation White Valentine are part of efforts to stop illegal bunkering and oil theft,” he said.
Also speaking during destruction exercise, Prof. Roseline Konya, the Rivers Commissioner of Environment, said the Rivers Government had setup a task force which was mandated to discover and stop the source of the air pollution.
She said that Gov. Nyesom Wike had given the task force a matching order to locate the source of the air pollution which causes lung infection and cancer.
“We have seen that the military were in the past burning illegal refineries partly because they had no alternatives.
“We are glad to witness that they no longer burn illegal refineries; but destroy the sites by removing illegally refined petroleum products before they crush storage tanks with Swap Buggy machines.
“The Rivers government is pleading with individuals organisations such as the Army and Navy to assist us locate and eradicate the source of the soot,” she said.
Konya, who is chairperson of the task force, commended the navy on the new Swamp Buggy strategy.
Last week Donald Trump said he was going to "come after" congressman Mark Meadows, the head of the House Freedom Caucus, if he didn't support the American Health Care Act. White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer later said the president was joking.
No one is laughing now.
The House Freedom Caucus, the collection of libertarian-leaning conservatives who helped sink the Trump-backed American Health Care Act last week, appears to be as much of a political enemy for the president as the Democratic Party.
"The Freedom Caucus will hurt the entire Republican agenda if they don't get on the team, & fast," Mr Trump tweeted on Thursday morning. "We must fight them, & Dems, in 2018!"
The tweet was the latest, most pointed, shot at the Freedom Caucus since the healthcare bill collapsed last Friday. In his initial remarks that afternoon, after the bill was unceremoniously pulled from consideration in the midst of being debated in the House, Mr Trump placed the blame squarely on the Democrats.
"We had no votes from the Democrats," the president lamented. "They weren't going to give us a single vote, so it's a very difficult thing to do."
He also said he had no hard feelings toward the Freedom Caucus, who he described as "friends of mine".
Congressman Mark Meadows and the rest of the House Freedom Caucus are feeling the heat from the president
Over the past week, however, his attitude has shifted.
On Sunday the president tweeted that the Freedom Caucus, along with several grass-roots conservative groups, had "saved" Obamacare and the women's health group Planned Parenthood, whose clinics provide abortion services.
The next day he wrote the Freedom Caucus "was able to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory".
Now it appears the president is preparing for all-out war against the intransigent congressmen - and it's a fight they seem willing to join. Shortly after Mr Trump fired his Thursday morning broadside, Justin Amash, a prominent member of the Freedom Caucus, offered his reply.
"It didn't take long for the swamp to drain Donald Trump," he tweeted. "No shame, Mr President. Almost everyone succumbs to the DC Establishment."
The fissures appearing beneath Mr Trump's feet as he tries to lead the Republican Party are not new, of course. Speaker of the House John Boehner, who was the top Republican officeholder during much of Barack Obama's presidency, constantly grappled with rebellious House members right up until he was forced from the speakership in September 2015.
For the first two months of the Trump presidency, however, it seemed like Republicans - finally in control of all the levers of power in Washington - might be able to present a unified front in advancing an ambitious agenda that included healthcare and tax reform, sweeping cuts in discretionary government programmes, and boosts in military and infrastructure spending.
Last week's healthcare fiasco has cast all of that into doubt, with a president unmoored from his own party sending out a number of conflicting messages.
After lambasting Democrats last Friday, Mr Trump has made several overtures to the opposition party. On Monday he tweeted the Democrats will be ready to deal once "Obamacare folds".
Paul Ryan doesn't want Donald Trump working with Democrats on healthcare
Do not worry," he wrote, "we are in very good shape."
The following night he told a bipartisan gathering of senators on Tuesday night that both Democrats and Republicans want to fulfil promises to improve American healthcare.
"I know that we're all going to make a deal on healthcare," he said. "That's such an easy one."
This set off its own series of tremors in Washington politics. On Wednesday evening Speaker Ryan was asked what he thought of Mr Trump reaching out to Democrats on healthcare reform.
"I don't want that to happen," he said. "You know why? I want a patient-centred system. I don't want government running healthcare.
"The government shouldn't tell you what you must do with your life, with your healthcare. We should give people choices."
On Thursday morning Bob Corker, a Republican senator from Tennessee, gave the speaker a stinging rebuke.
"We have come a long way in our country when the speaker of one party urges a president NOT to work with the other party to solve a problem," he tweeted.
A case can be made for a presidential political strategy that attempts to play House Freedom Caucus hard-liners off against Democrats to bring either one group or the other into a governing majority in Congress.
If that's the case, however, Mr Trump's strategy of antagonising both groups, 140 characters at a time, seems an uncertain way of realising that goal.
Traditional partisan battle lines may at least temporarily re-emerge next week, when the Senate votes on seating Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court.
But the fractures in the Republican party will probably once again become apparent with upcoming political fights over the budget, taxes and - perhaps - healthcare once again.
Over the course of the 2016 presidential campaign, Trump voters time and time again said they were supporting their candidate because they wanted to disrupt the political order in Washington and get things done.
While the latter is still very much in doubt, the former is looking more and more like a mission accomplished.
- The JAMB zonal office in Benue state has been vandalised by prospective exam candidates protesting their inability to register at the centers earmarked for the exercise - The candidates also took the protest to government house, expressing their disgust over the manner this year JAMB registration is been handled
- Besides, the zonal controller JAMB, Samuel Moro, who acknowledged a lot of hitches in registration for the exam, advised prospective candidates to be patient.
The JAMB candidates are angry over their inability to register at the centers earmarked for the exercise.
The zonal office of the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) in Benue state has been vandalised by hundreds of prospective exam candidates over the difficulty they are passing through to get registered for the exam.
Tribune reports that the windows and other valuables in the office located along George Akume were destroyed by the angry applicants who also blocked the major road with born fires which disrupted traffic flow. The candidates were protesting their inability to register at the centers earmarked for the exercise. “The process is stressful. We wait for two or three days at the banks to get the pin and going to jamb is another frustration. Let cyber cafe do it for us,” prospective candidates who identified themselves as, Lucy and Jimmy told the Tribune. Some of the candidates also took the protest to government house, expressing their disgust over the manner this year JAMB registration is been handled.
Speaking to the aggrieved candidates, the state secretary to the state government (SSG) Prof Anthony Ijor SAN, urged the candidates to remain calm, assuring that all their grievances would be addressed. Besides, the zonal controller JAMB, Samuel Moro, advised prospective candidates to be patient assuring that everybody will get registered. He acknowledged a lot of hitches from the banks and partly from the candidates themselves. Moro however, expressed displeasure over the attitude of the candidates whom he alleged, destroyed their signboard, windows and other facilities. Meanwhile, News has reported that candidates sitting for the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) would from this year spend two hours instead of three hours to write the exam. The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), Registrar/Chief Executive Prof. Is-haq Oloyede, on Wednesday, March 29, stated this in Kaduna, during the opening ceremony of a strategic planning retreat on the monitoring, supervision and evaluation of 2017 UTME with the theme: “Inclusiveness and sensitisation of key external actors.” According to JAMB, a total of 240,000 candidates have so far registered for the examination which has been scheduled for May 20, barely one week after the commencement of the sale of forms which is expected to end on April 22.
President Muhammadu Buhari’s planned medical trip to London has been cancelled with reports indicating doctors will instead fly in from UK for further ''medical examination''.
The president had gone to the UK on an extended medical vacation before returning 51 days later. On his return, the president had hinted that he would soon be returning to the UK for further medical examination but according to Sahara Reporters, the medical trip has been cancelled.
Instead, medical doctors are expended from London on Friday, March 31 in Abuja to meet with the president in order to carry further examination. It was reported that some of his closest aides advised again going on another medical trip as this would fuel rumour concerning his state of health all over again.
News had reported that the president’s trip to the UK had generated speculation that he was seriously ill with some even saying he had passed away although this was refuted several times by his media aides.
Lai Mohammed
Meanwhile, the minister of information, Lai Mohammed said that the federal government's decision to release the medical expenses of President Buhari was on the basis of national security. He said: “This matter (the President’s medical bill) has come several times and our position on the matter is quite straight forward. “What are the President’s conditions of service? What are his entitlements in terms of his well-being and health care? The state is supposed to take responsibility for these. “We believe that asking for how much has been spent on the health of the President is an issue that we should weigh very well both for national security and also for moral issues. I don’t know why we must divulge such very sensitive information"
The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr. Yakubu Dogara, yesterday, took a look at the ongoing controversy between the Senate and the Comptroller General of the Nigerian Customs Service, Colonel Hameed Alii, describing the development as mere distractions.
Speaker House of Representatives, Hon. Yakubu Dogara fielding questions from State House Correspondents after closed door meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja
Dogara, who fielded questions from senior journalists in Abuja, said the most important thing that should have been considered was whether the man had delivered on his mandate. Although he did not mention the upper legislative chamber in his briefing, Dogara said that it was also necessary to look at what the Nigerian laws say about wearing of uniforms by public officers and see whether any of the laws had been adhere to or breached by Ali. “So you have to look at all these issues before you come to a conclusion. As far as I am concerned these are mere distractions. They are not supposed to be; the main issue is delivery. What is it that we are delivering? That is it,” Dogara said. The Speaker said that although he could not say whether the House of Representatives would support the resolution passed by the Senate against Ali, he would only wait to see what happens when the discussion gets to the floor of the House for debate. He said, “But for a decision to be made in line with what the Senate proposed to the House, you can only wait till the matter comes before the House and that decision will be taken and Nigerians will know”. The Speaker, who also took at look at the performance of the federal government since coming to power in 2015, claimed that the administration could not be accused of disappointing Nigerians given where it was coming from and what it inherited from the previous administration. He said, “We have gone very far in trying to tackle this issue of insurgency and as a matter of fact all hostile spots have been liberated. This Government through various interventions has been able to ensure that the terrorists are not holding unto any swatch of land. “I believe this is one major thing that has given some hope to Nigerians, for the very first time that we are in a position to overcome this problem, and it is critical, even if it’s for nothing else that our citizens in the Northeast zone down to Abuja can move around more freely than before, that is something. “For me, I can say that a lot has been achieved even though unsung in most cases. In the context of our society, people want to see first-class roads, hospitals, they want to see the tangibles, but nobody places value on the intangibles. “For us who come from the Northeast, even some of us who live and work in Abuja, remember how dire this issue of terrorism was. We were all living on the throes of violence. The Police Headquarters here was bombed, U.N Mission here in Abuja was bombed, bombs exploded in Kaduna, Kano, Jos, in Nyanya as well and there was even threat of this mayhem being exported to the Southwest and other regions of this country. “If you look at it today, we have exited from that. The biggest problem of democracy is that with violence you cannot take the benefits of democracy. Democracy as we practice: Presidential democracy has three promises: Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness. The number one responsibility of Government is the security and welfare of the citizens. But the Speaker expressed disappointment with the treatment meted out to the Peace Corps of Nigeria even with the passage of the bill to make it a national security outfit in Nigeria by the National Assembly. Dogara made it clear that the National Assembly would muster the required majority in both chambers to veto the President on the matter if he withholds his assent to the National Peace Corps Bill already passed and transmitted to the Presidency. He maintained that there could be no limit to spend in securing the lives and property of Nigerians since the government exists to protect lives and property. He warmed, “So the Bill is still there before the President for his assent. If he doesn’t assent to it for whatever reason, we are at liberty to recall it back to parliament and muster the 2/3 in the House and Senate and pass in spite of Mr. President’s veto. But right now that is not the discussion. The Speaker also express dissatisfaction with the way the executive has been treating resolutions from the NASS with levity and hinted that a committee had been raised to compile resolutions passed but not complied with by the executive for necessary actions. Mr. Dogara promised to take steps to ensure the amendment of the Local Government Law in Nigeria to give autonomy to the 774 councils in the country and return the conduct of local elections to INEC to ensure credibility, fairness and competitiveness as opposed to the current hijack of the process by the respective states. He said the removal of autonomy from LGAs had created middlemen who deny the councils of the needed development. “The current system is not working, and it has become a system whereby some have constituted themselves into middle men along the lines; they grab the resources meant for the development at the grass root and appropriate it the way they deem fit. “And, there is a twin evil which is that of state independent electoral commissions that gives birth to a total mockery of democracy in the way the State Independent Electoral Commissions conduct elections that are usually won by just one party in power in the respective states. “I have never seen where democracy is mocked like in Nigerian local government elections. I don’t know how we can continue to mock ourselves that we are practising democracy at the third tier of government.
Donald Trump's daughter will become an official White House employee in an unpaid role.
Ivanka's husband, Jared Kushner (L), also works in the White House as a senior advisor to the president
Ivanka Trump will take an official government role as an unpaid
adviser to her father US President Donald Trump, the White House
announced on Wednesday.
The first daughter, whose husband Jared Kushner also works as a
senior advisor to the president, will not receive a salary for her work
as a federal employee. Kushner, a real estate developer, is also unpaid.
"We are pleased that Ivanka Trump has chosen to take this step in her
unprecedented role as first daughter and in support of the president," a
White House statement said.
"Ivanka's service as an unpaid employee furthers our commitment to
ethics, transparency, and compliance and affords her increased
opportunities to lead initiatives driving real policy benefits for the
American public that would not have been available to her previously."
In the couple of months since her father became president Ivanka, 35,
has been a regular presence at the White House, where she already has
an office.
She was present when her father received Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in January, and earlier this month took part in a round-table discussion with President Trump and Chancellor Angela Merkel during the German leader's visit to the White House.
Ivanka Trump has been a regular presence at the White House, where she already has an office, since her father became president
Her involvement with her father's official duties has raised eyebrows in some quarters over possible conflicts of interest.
But Ivanka, who was part of her father's business empire and ran a fashion line, said those qualms are unfounded.
"I have heard the concerns some have with my advising the president in my personal capacity while voluntarily complying with all ethics rules, and I will instead serve as an unpaid employee in the White House Office, subject to all of the same rules as other federal employees," she said in a statement.
"Throughout this process I have been working closely and in good faith with the White House Counsel and my personal counsel to address the unprecedented nature of my role."
Neither Kushner nor Ivanka Trump has any experience in elected office or public policy.
In addition to raising questions over possible conflicts of interest, the young couple's influence on the president has fueled broader debate on the absence of clear boundaries between the Trump family's business dealings and its member's political activities.
READ MORE: Ivanka Trump given White House office
Ivanka Trump's lawyer, Jamie Gorelick, told the news website Politico last week that the president's daughter will have access to classified information and be bound by the same rules that apply to other White House advisers who are on the government payroll.
"Our view is that the conservative approach is for Ivanka to voluntarily comply with the rules that would apply if she were a government employee, even though she is not," Gorelick told the outlet.
"Having an adult child of the president who is actively engaged in the work of the administration is new ground."
Part of the novelty stems from the fact that relatives of elected officials cannot legally be hired for most federal jobs due to potential conflicts of interests.
Yet Trump succeeded in getting Kushner on board at the White House by arguing that the executive office of the president was not covered by federal anti-nepotism rules. Kushner said that by putting his interests in a trust, and not being paid for the job, he could avoid the rule.
Kushner's family business has invested some $7bn in property acquisitions in the past decade, often with overseas partners - and his father-in-law now is formally in charge of financial regulation.
Two Democratic senators, Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Tom Carper of Delaware, sent a letter to the Office of Government Ethics on Wednesday saying that Ivanka Trump's "increasing, albeit unspecified, White House role ... (has) resulted in substantial confusion," and questioned how her ethics compliance would be ensured.
A missing Indonesian man was found dead inside the body of a python, according to local police.
Akbar went missing on Sunday on the island of Sulawesi, after leaving to harvest palm oil.
In the search for the 25-year-old, police told BBC Indonesian that they had found a huge snake they suspected had swallowed the man.
The reticulated python, reported to be 7m (23ft)-long, was cut open and the man's body was found.
How can a snake eat a human?
Reticulated pythons are among the world's longest reptiles and suffocate their victims before swallowing them whole.
Pythons rarely kill and eat humans, although there are occasional reports of them swallowing young children or animals.
Mashura, a spokesperson for the police in West Sulawesi province told BBC Indonesian that villagers reported to police that Akbar had been missing for 24 hours.
Police then conducted a search and found the snake near the family's palm plantation.
"They didn't find him (Akbar), but the villagers saw an unmoving python in the ditch. They grew suspicious that maybe the snake had Akbar. When they cut it open, Akbar was inside the snake," Mashura, who like many Indonesians goes by one name, said.
Village secretary Salubiro Junaidi told The Jakarta Post: "People had heard cries from the palm grove the night before Akbar was found in the snake's stomach.
"When the snake was captured, the boots Akbar was wearing were clearly visible in the stomach of the snake.
"Resident[s] cut open the belly of the snake and Akbar was lifeless."
Nia Kurniawan, from Brawijaya University, told The News that a python of this size would hunt for large prey, such as boars or wild dogs.
While they normally avoid human settlements, they would see palm oil plantations as a good hunting ground, he said, as they attract animals like boars, primates or dogs.
SINGAPORE: A fire broke out at the storeroom of Samsung
Experience Store in AMK Hub in the early hours of Tuesday morning (Mar
28), causing surrounding stores in the shopping mall to temporarily
close for safety reasons and cleaning.
AMK Hub general manager
Andy Kau said the fire occurred at the storeroom of the shop on basement
one at 1.25am and was put out by the fire sprinkler in the room "within
minutes".
While there were no injuries, the mall management has
closed off the area surrounding the store for safety reasons and for
cleaning, Mr Kau said.
"We will be working with the few
affected tenants to assist them in resuming their business operations as
soon as possible," the general manager said, adding that the rest of
the mall was open for business as usual.
Samsung Electronics said
in a statement on Tuesday that it was alerted to the fire in the early
hours of Tuesday, adding that the fire was extinguished by the store's
water sprinklers and no one was injured.
"We are currently
assessing the property damage and working closely with the authorities
to determine the cause of the fire. The store will remain temporarily
closed during this period. We sincerely regret any inconvenience
caused," the company said.
The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said it was alerted to the fire at about 1.32am.
It
sent two fire engines, two Red Rhinos and five support vehicles to the
scene. The fire, which involved contents measuring 1m by 2m in the
shop's storeroom, was quickly put out by the mall's sprinkler system and
a SCDF water jet.
The cause of the fire is under investigation, SCDF said.
In
a Facebook post at 8.20am, Fitness First said its AMK Hub branch,
beside the Samsung store, was temporarily closed due to the fire.
"We are working hard to resume operations as soon as possible," the gym said.
It also said in a later update at 10.15am that while the
club was not affected by the fire, it was cleaning up the waterlog
caused by the sprinklers.
Officials
say cases have been reported over the last week in six states and has so far infected
more
than 1,000 people, the Abuja Centre for Disease Control says.
Meningitis
causes an acute inflammation of the outer layers of the brain and spinal cord.
We gathered that the current outbreak is the worst in Nigeria since 2009
when it killed at least 156 people.
The disease is spreading amidst fears it
could be out of control if refugee camps, prisons and police cells become
affected through crowds, the BBC's Chris Ewokor in Abuja says.
Vaccination is
an effective way of preventing against meningitis. However, a new strain, which
may have been imported from a neighbouring country is now prevalent in Nigeria
and requires a different type of vaccine, Nigerian Minister of Health Isaac
Adewole said. BBC reports that the seasonal outbreak has been attributed to
cold nights, dusty winds and dry weather, which were aggravated by traditional
beliefs, poor hygiene, and overpopulation. Nigeria lies on the meningitis belt,
stretching from the Sahel region to the Horn of Africa, where outbreaks occur regularly.
News had reported a few days back, that the Federal Government has deployed
epidemiologists and vaccines to arrest the outbreak of a new a strain of
Cerebro Spinal Meningitis (CSM) in parts of the country. The Minister of
Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole said this on Thursday in Abuja that the new strain,
which is not common in Nigeria, was imported from Niger Republic. Adewole said
that the new strain requires a different type of vaccine and a team of
epidemiologists have been deployed to address the challenge.
He described the
outbreak of meningitis in Sokoto and Zamfara states as an unfortunate
incidence, stressing that the ministry is working hard to contain the
situation. Meanwhile, in a nation where health is still not at its optimum yet.
Donald Trump came into office promising to change the face of American politics and transfer power "back to the people".
After
four weeks in the White House, he said "incredible progress" had been
made, having signed some two dozen executive actions and put his
signature to several bills.
But he has also been forced to fire
his scandal-hit national security adviser and an acting attorney
general, who defied his seven-nation travel ban, which later suffered an
appeals court defeat.
So what has President Trump achieved so
far? In the weeks and months to come, we'll be tracking the progress he
makes on his agenda and how it is received by the American public.
What executive actions has Trump taken?
One way President Trump is able to exercise political power is
through unilateral executive orders and memoranda, which allow him to
bypass the legislative process in Congress in certain policy areas.
He wasted little time in taking advantage of this, moving to withdraw from the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal, cut business regulations and push ahead with the construction of two controversial pipelines.
While
it may appear that he has been signing executive actions at an
unprecedented rate, he has signed less than President Obama did during
the same period in office.
President Trump has used several of these actions to deliver on some
of his campaign promises, but they are limited in their power.
While
executive orders can be used to change how federal agencies use their
resources, they cannot assign those agencies new funds or introduce new
laws - both of those powers are held by Congress.
For example, Mr
Trump's first executive order was designed to limit the effect of the
Affordable Care Act, better known as Obamacare, but his campaign promise
of repealing and replacing it can only be enacted by Congress because
it requires new legislation.
How are his approval ratings?
When Mr Trump took the oath of office on 20 January he did so with the lowest approval rating of any incoming president.
He
dismissed those polls as "rigged" but the strength of the opposition to
him was evident when hundreds of thousands of people took to the
streets the day after his inauguration.
Most presidents begin
their term with strong approval numbers, but President Trump has bucked
that trend. While both George W Bush and Barack Obama were enjoying
approval numbers around 60% after two months in office, Mr Trump is
around the 40% mark.
Mr Trump won the election with low approval numbers so it's unsurprising they're still low, but the scandal over his team's contacts with Russia and his controversial travel ban have kept them falling.
Still,
Mr Trump's attempts to cut business regulation and his hard line on
immigration have impressed many of his supporters - we spoke to some who said he was doing "a fabulous job"
Do his approval numbers matter? Maybe not, for now.
Republicans
control both the House and Senate so in theory he can pursue his
legislative agenda without worrying about his ratings - as long as he
keeps his Republican colleagues on side.
But if his ratings stay
low or fall further, expect some dissenting voices to emerge in the
party as Republicans start to worry about midterm elections in 2018.
What has been done on healthcare?
Healthcare was always going to be an early test for President Trump after he made it a centrepiece of his election campaign.
President
Obama's Affordable Care Act helped more than 20 million previously
uninsured Americans to finally get health cover - but Mr Trump said he
would "immediately repeal and replace" it.
Republicans eventually
unveiled their long-awaited draft healthcare bill at the beginning of
March, with House Speaker Paul Ryan describing it as "monumental,
exciting conservative reform".
President Trump backed the bill but it received a damning assessment
from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), a nonpartisan federal
agency, which said it would result in 24 million more uninsured
Americans by 2026.
The Trump administration said it "strenuously disagreed" with the CBO
analysis, but the bill was abandoned on 24 March after it failed to win
enough support from Republicans in Congress.
It was an
embarrassing episode for President Trump and the Republican Party, who
control the presidency and both chambers of the Congress for the first
time in 11 years.
Mr Trump did his best to shrug off the defeat,
saying his administration would return to "piece together a great
healthcare plan" once Obamacare had "exploded".
While Obamacare has had its problems since it was introduced in 2010,
it shows few signs of collapsing in the near future and the CBO
analysis said its market places were "stable in most areas".
That
could change if President Trump and his Republican colleagues move to
cut funding for the programs subsidies but that would be a risky
strategy ahead of mid-term elections next year, especially as recent
polls suggest support for Obamacare is actually growing.
How is the economy faring under Trump?
When
Barack Obama became president in 2009, the US was in the midst of its
worst recession since the 1930s, with the economy shedding 800,000 jobs
in his first month.
But after a few dips later that year, the US
economy saw its longest ever period of job creation. In total, 11.3
million jobs were created under President Obama.
Mr Trump has previously dismissed those numbers as "phony" and after his inauguration he described the economy as a "mess".
But when the new monthly report was released in March, showing 235,000 jobs had been added to the workforce in February, White House press secretary Sean Spicer said it was "great news for American workers".
During the campaign, Mr Trump vowed to create 25 million jobs over 10 years and become "the greatest jobs president... ever".
He also accused Mexico and China of stealing millions of jobs and vowed to "bring our jobs home". But research
suggests most of the manufacturing jobs that America has shed in recent
years have been lost to increased automation at factories, rather than
companies moving abroad.
We'll be keeping track of the monthly
jobs report to see what progress he makes and we'll also be paying close
attention to the manufacturing industry.
In the short term,
however, President Trump has cited the stock market as a sign that his
policies are already having an effect on the economy, saying there has
been a "tremendous surge of optimism in the business world".
The Dow, S&P 500 and Nasdaq indexes all closed at record highs
on 15 February in a partial sign at least that investors were
encouraged by Mr Trump's planned infrastructure projects, deregulation
and tax cuts.
But the president will need to avoid the backlash
that followed his ban on immigrants coming into the US from seven mainly
Muslim countries if he wants the stock market to continue hitting new
highs.
All of the three major indexes fell slightly after Mr
Trump's controversial executive order caused protests at airports across
the country - and Silicon Valley lashed out at the president as well.
Other than a wall at the border with Mexico, Donald Trump promised
little to address drug trafficking in the Americas during last year’s
U.S. presidential campaign. Two months into his presidency, it is clear
that the Trump administration’s disengaged and military-first approach
to the drug trade could bring more volatility to the region.
A giant puppet depicting U.S. President
Donald Trump paraded at Carnival celebrations in Olinda, Pernambuco
state, Brazil, Feb. 27, 2017.
On March 13, the White House released “America First: A Budget Blueprint to Make America Great Again,”
which raises more questions and concerns than solutions on many issues,
including the drug trade. It notably recommends a $54 billion increase
in military spending, proposes reduced funding to the “UN and affiliated
agencies,” and requests a $10.1 billion budget cut for the Department
of State and USAID—a 28 percent decrease from current levels. In his
introductory message to Congress, Trump declared that, “It is time to
prioritize the security and well-being of Americans, and to ask the rest
of the world to step up and pay its fair share.” ...
A man whose lawyer wife was gunned
down on a busy Philippines street is seeking to meet with top-ranking
officials to try to bring her killers to justice.
Mia Mascarinas-Green was killed in her car in Tagbilaran City with their three children in the back seat.
Stuart Green, from Hertfordshire, was living with his family in Bohol province when his wife was shot.
After shooting Mia the killers turned the gun on the children but the gun jammed, Mr Green said.
Twenty eight bullets
"If not for the miracle of the gun jamming it was highly likely that I would have returned to four coffins," Mr Green added.
Mrs
Mascarinas-Green was forced to stop at about 16:45 on 16 February when a
motorbike swerved in front of the car she was driving.
Witnesses
said two men walked over to the car and put a bullet in the engine,
before firing a total of 28 bullets at Mrs Mascarinas-Green - nine of
which lodged into the back of her neck, killing her.
Mia Mascarinas-Green was a prominent environmental and human rights lawyer, whose funeral was attended by thousands of people.
Mr
Green, a marine biologist, met his wife in 1990 at a conference in the
Philippines and the country was their home, but since his wife's murder
the family has returned to Hertfordshire.
'Life-shattering'
He
believes the motive for his wife's death is due to a dispute involving a
minor case she had undertaken involving the ownership of a holiday
hotel.
"Mia was just doing her job. This was not an environmental
case or children or women's work. This was just a small case," Mr Green
said.
"I feel a burning need to ensure that these people are
never able to put any other human being, or family through this heart
wrenching and life-shattering experience ever again," he added.
Mr
Green is planning to meet with Bohol's governor, the head of the
national police and other officials for an update on the investigation.
Friends of the couple have set up an education foundation for the children.
* Lagos High Court rules Coca-Cola products dangerous when mixed with vitamin C
* Court orders Fanta, Sprite bottles to carry health warnings and awards damages
* Manufacturers argue their products comply with regulations
Consumers
of Sprite and Fanta have more to worry about than rotting teeth
according to a Lagos High Court judge, who ruled that the Coca-Cola
products could be "poisonous."
The
court held that high levels of benzoic acid and sunset additives in the
popular soft drinks could pose a health risk to consumers when mixed
with ascorbic acid, commonly known as vitamin C, according to local media.
Justice Adedayo Oyebanji ordered the
Nigerian Bottling Company (NBC) to place written warnings on Fanta and
Sprite bottles against drinking them with vitamin C, and awarded costs
of two million naira ($6,350) against the National Agency For Food and
Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) for failing to ensure health
standards.
"It is manifest that
NAFDAC has been grossly irresponsible in its regulatory duties to the
consumers of Fanta and Sprite manufactured by Nigeria Bottling Company,"
the judge said. "NAFDAC has failed the citizens of this great nation by
its certification as satisfactory for human consumption products ...
which become poisonous in the presence of ascorbic acid."
Incendiary judgement
The incendiary judgment followed a
lawsuit brought against regulator NAFDAC and the NBC -- a member of
Coca-Cola Hellenic group which bottles Coca-Cola products in Nigeria --
by Lagos businessman Dr. Emmanuel Fijabi Adebo.
The claimant's company, Fijabi Adebo
Holdings Limited, attempted to export Coca-Cola products to the United
Kingdom for retail in February 2007.
But
authorities in the UK seized and subsequently destroyed a shipment,
Adebo claimed, because the products contained excessive levels of sunset
yellow and benzoic acid. The latter substance can form the carcinogen
benzene when combined with ascorbic acid, according to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Lawyers for the NBC argued that the products were not intended for export, but Justice Adedayo Oyebanji rejected this defense.
"Soft
drinks manufactured by Nigeria Bottling Company ought to be fit for
human consumption irrespective of color or creed," the judge said.
Mr Adebo was pleased by the verdict but vowed to pursue further damages.
"I'm
happy that I'm victorious and we've alerted Nigerians and the entire
world to what is happening in Nigeria," the businessman told the Media. "What
the court fined NAFDAC is not one tenth of the amount I've spent on
litigation ... We should have been awarded at least the amount that we
spent in purchasing that product and in exporting it to UK. We are
entitled to special damages for what we have gone through."
