Friday, 26 May 2017

Nigeria to Partner Indonesia on Dev of Transportation Sector

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The federal government Friday assured its Indonesian counterpart of its preparedness to partner with the Indonesian business community to develop the transportation sector in Nigeria.

This was made known by the Minister of Transportation, Mr. Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi, while receiving in audience the Indonesian Ambassador to Nigeria, Retno L.P Marsudi, who paid him a courtesy call in his office.

Amaechi, who was represented by the Permanent Secretary, Sabiu Zakari, stated that Nigeria and Indonesia have long standing similarities in both natural and human resources that can be used as a tool to develop and promote trade and investment between the two countries.
According to the minister, “Nigeria is ever ready to collaborate with Indonesia to address infrastructural challenges in the maritime, aviation and rail sub-sectors of the nation’s economy.”


He said: “There are a lot of potentials in the transportation sector which the Indonesian business community can tap into for investment opportunities. The federal government has recently awarded concession of the narrow gauge rail lines to an American company, General Electric (GE).”

Source:Thisdaylive.com

APERE - BASKET Live in Lagos

Award-winning comedian, actor and OAP Steve ‘Yaw’ Onu live at it again - It's the 9th edition of his annual “Yaw Live on Stage”
The comedy show titled "Apere - Basket" is set to hold on Sunday, May 28, 2017 at Eko Hotel Convention Centre, Victoria Island Lagos.
This year, the show’s highlight is an amusing stage play titled ‘Apere’ (meaning basket) featuring Yaw and musician Sound Sultan as they take a completely satirical and holistic view at the issues surrounding Nigeria.

Other Features are: Duncan Mighty, Inyanya, Harrysong, Pepernazi, Solid Star, Reekado Banks, Korede Bello, Sugar Boy, Humbles Smith, Illbliss, Skales, Koker and Shuga Band, And Lots More...

Time: 4PM
Tickets: Regular = 6k    VIP = 25K    Table of 10 = 500K  & 1M
For Table Reservation, Please Call: 08062340000

For More Information, Please Call: 08055556525 or 09086787099

America jails 3 Nigerian scammers for 235 years

                                        Rasaq Raheem, Oladimeji Seun Ayelotan, Femi Alexander

Three Nigerian scammers who befriended many of their victims on dating sites have been slammed huge prison sentences by a Mississippi court after making tens of millions of dollars from their schemes.
Oladimeji Seun Ayelotan, 30, was sentenced to 95 years in prison; Rasaq Aderoju Raheem, 31, was given 115 years and Femi Alexander Mewase, 45, got 25 years behind bars, according to a report by https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com

A court in the Southern District of Mississippi had in February found them all guilty of crimes including mail fraud, wire fraud, identity theft, credit card fraud and theft of government property. Ayelotan and Raheem were also found guilty of conspiracies to commit bank fraud and money laundering. Dating back to at least 2001, the scammers were involved in multiple internet fraud schemes, resulting in losses in the tens of millions, according to the Department of Justice. It claimed that they would befriend women on dating sites, establish a romantic relationship and then either get them to send money or have them participate in fraud schemes, usually without the victim’s knowledge. The unsuspecting women would sometimes be required to cash counterfeit checks and money orders; use stolen credit card details to purchase goods; and use stolen personal information to take over victims’ bank accounts. They were also apparently used to launder money via Western Union and MoneyGram, and re-package and re-ship goods obtained fraudulently. A whopping 21 defendants have already been charged in this ongoing case, 12 of whom have pleaded guilty to charges involving conspiracy and 11 of whom have been sentenced. The three Nigerians were among the six extradited from South Africa by US Department of Justice in 2015 to face charges of running a series of scams against gullible Americans over the past 16 years. Fourteen others resident in the US were also arrested to face trial in Gulfport, Mississippi on nine federal charges, including conspiracy to commit identity theft, wire fraud, bank fraud, theft of US government funds, and conspiracy to commit money laundering. The indictment states that since 2001 the accused, were part of a string of scams against Americans, facilitated by internet communications. These include the longstanding 419 scheme, whereby a massive windfall is promised once a small number of payments have been provided, but the DoJ claims it went much further than that. The team was also accused of running romance stings to bilk the lonely of funds, shipping fraud, running fake work-from-home businesses, check fraud, and plain-old hijacking of other people’s bank accounts and credit cards to divert funds. Global fraud continues to grow thanks to the internet and an increase in the use of both anonymizing technology and bots designed to mimic human behavior. ThreatMetrix, which analyzes 20 billion annual transactions, blocked 130 million fraud attempts in Q1 alone, a 35% increase on the same time last year.
 However, it is Europe that has become a major fraud hotspot. There were 50% more fraud attempts originating from the region than the US in the quarter, the firm claimed.

Source:  Vanguard Ngr

Canada Signs the 1996 Child Protection and 2007 Child Support Conventions

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On 26 May 2017, Canada signed the Hague Convention of 19 October 1996 on Jurisdiction, Applicable Law, Recognition, Enforcement and Co-operation in Respect of Parental Responsibility and Measures for the Protection of Children (1996 Child Protection Convention) and the Hague Convention of 23 November 2007 on the International Recovery of Child Support and Other Forms of Family Maintenance (2007 Child Support Convention). With Canada's signatures, the 1996 Child Protection Convention and the 2007 Child Support Convention now have respectively 49 States and 37 States and one Regional Economic Integration Organisation that have signed, ratified or acceded to the instruments.

For the contracting states to the 1996 Child Protection Convention, click here. For the contracting states of 2007 Child Support Convention, click here.


Canada, which has been a Member of the Hague Conference since 1968, is a Contracting State to four Hague Conventions, namely the Convention of 15 November 1965 on the Service Abroad of Judicial and Extrajudicial Documents in Civil or Commercial Matters, the Convention of 25 October 1980 on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, the Convention of 1 July 1985 on the Law Applicable to Trusts and on their Recognition and the Convention of 29 May 1993 on the Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption.


Reported by Sophia Marilyn

United Arab Emirates launches e-commerce platform

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Emirates NBD, the largest bank in the United Arab Emirates, has announced the launch of SkyShopper – an online marketplace for its customers.

The new platform enables credit and debit card customers to shop and pay for purchases, ranging from flights and hotels to entertainment and groceries from different retailers – using one consolidated checkout.

Emirates NBD has partnered with prominent retailers to offer its customers a wide variety of products and services along with a seamless and safe shopping experience. SkyShopper’s current partners include the popular travel booking sites Cleartrip and Musafir, leading fashion and lifestyle portal Namshi and electronics stores such as Axiom, Jumbo and Sharaf DG.

In addition, customers will also be able to shop at international online stores with delivery to the UAE consolidated and routed through a US shipping address (MyUS.com) and at My Smart Price (MSP) India with delivery anywhere in India. New partnerships in the pipeline include Booking.com, The Luxury Closet, 6th STREET.COM and Headout.

Suvo Sarkar, senior executive vice president and group head of retail banking and wealth management at Emirates NBD, said: “The launch of SkyShopper is to enrich the shopping experience and provide added value to Emirates NBD customers who are increasingly making online purchases.


“Despite its rapid growth, the UAE’s e-commerce sector continues to be based largely on cash on delivery. SkyShopper is uniquely positioned to change that by providing customers the security and convenience of purchasing everything from airline tickets to mobile phones and luxury items to groceries via Emirates NBD’s trusted payment platform, in addition to exclusive deals and promotions.”

UAE condemns terror attack on Christians in Egypt

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The UAE has strongly condemned the terrorist attack on a bus that was carrying Coptic Christians to a monastery in Minya Governorate in Egypt, which resulted in deaths and injuries to a large number of people.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, in a statement, has affirmed the solidarity of the UAE with Egypt, stating that the country stood by Egypt’s side in the face of this criminal and malicious act. “We stand with Egypt and its people against extremism and terrorism,” the ministry said, describing this attack as a “new crime added to the black record of terrorism and terrorists.”
It called on all countries worldwide to stand together to eradicate this serious scourge, which aims to destroy communities and spread chaos, stoke conflict and division among the people of a country.
The ministry expressed its confidence in the cohesion of the Egyptian people and their ability throughout history “to uphold their national unity and unique social fabric to defeat this abhorrent terrorism by all means.”

It extended the condolences of the UAE leadership, government and its people to the families of the victims and wished a speedy recovery to the injured.

Source:Gulf News

US trains 60 Nigerian anti-bomb policemen in Lagos

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The US embassy in Nigeria, on Friday concluded training for 60 Nigerian anti-bomb policemen in Lagos.
It reports that the one-month training included four sessions of 15 participants who will become Explosive Ordinance Disposal (EOD) mentors.
In his remarks, Mr Scoitie Blancett, the Regional Security Officer in the US Embassy, said they were happy to share their expertise with the officers.
He expressed optimism that the effects of the training would bring about safety for people in the country.
The police officers, drawn from different commands were trained in Lagos.
The training was facilitated by the American Embassy in Nigeria through the Office of Anti-Terrorism Assistant (ATA) in conjunction with the NPF.

In his closing remarks, Mr Ibrahim Idris, the Inspector-General of Police (I-G) said the officers would serve as trainers to other officers in their various commands.

“The beneficiaries are expected to impart the knowledge acquired to other bomb technicians across the country in order to enhance EOD service delivery,” he said.

Idris, who was represented by the DIG Operations, Mr Joshak Habila, expressed gratitude to the U.S. Consul General in Nigeria, the region security officer, US Embassy in Abuja and the facilitators for the training.


He assured Nigerians that with the number of trained officers, there would be no vacuum in states and communities the military were leaving in the North East.

Source:    www.guardian.ng