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Russian taxi-driver plows into pedestrians, injures Mexican fans
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more bystanders chased after him and could be seen trying to tackle him to the ground as the footage ended1 a taxi drove into a crowd of pedestrians near moscows red square on saturday injuring eight people including two mexicans in the city for the soccer world cup which russia is hosting officials and eyewitnesses said1 moscows traffic management authority said the taxi driver had a drivers license issued in kyrgyzstan a mainly muslim ex-soviet republic1 he was identified as analbek uulu from kyrgyzstan1 traffic management authority cited the driver who was in police custody as saying he had not driven into the crowd on purpose1 moscow mayor sergei sobyanin said in a post on twitter there was an unpleasant incident with a taxi. the driver lost control of the vehicle1 the citys police said they had opened a criminal investigation into a suspected violation of the traffic code1 eight people were hurt and had been taken to hospital moscow citys healthcare department said in a statement. it said seven were in a satisfactory condition while one woman was seriously hurt1 the mexican embassy in moscow said two mexican women had been lightly injured. also among those hurt were a ukrainian and two russian citizens russias tass news agency quoted a source in the emergency services as saying1 video of the incident posted on social media showed the yellow hyundai taxi pull sharply out of a line of stationery traffic accelerate and mount the narrow pavement which was packed with pedestrians1 the vehicle drove for about 10 meters along the pavement bowling over pedestrians with some of them being carried along on the bonnet of the car1 the taxi came to a halt after hitting a traffic sign. as bystanders tried to pull open the drivers side door the driver dressed in black trousers and black t-shirt jumped out and sprinted away1 the incident took place as residents and visiting soccer fans thronged the centre of moscow on a balmy summer evening a short distance from the kremlin1 a witness told reuters that some of the people hit were wearing mexican team colours. mexico take on germany on sunday in their first world cup match at moscows luzhniki stadium and thousands of mexican fans are in the russian capital1 a second witness at the scene told reuters about the driver of the taxi he was pulled out of the vehicle he ran off but bystanders apprehended him. he was shouting it wasnt me1 another witness viktoria geraimovich said she called the emergency services on her mobile phone1 describing the actions of the driver she said he ran into a group of mexicans. there were shouts moans. he was only stopped because he hit a traffic sign1 someone gave him a punch in the face. he stayed in the car people came up to him said what are you doing punched him in the face he opened the door and tried to run away1 its scary that it was in the center of moscow and i was right opposite she said1 moscows traffic management authority said the driver was not drunk and interfax news agency cited a source saying there was no alcohol in his blood1 the same source told interfax the driver had said he fell asleep at the wheel and accidentally pressed the accelerator pedal1 russian authorities have vowed to host a safe soccer world cup which russia is hosting for the first time ever. it is taking place in 11 cities until july 151 in central moscow authorities have installed heavy concrete blocks across the entrances to pedestrianized areas following a spate of incidents in european cities in which vehicles were used to mow down people1 the u.s. state department on friday updated its travel advice on russia saying terrorist groups were plotting attacks1 -
Kenyatta orders massive audit of civil servants, their wealth
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this issue of people stealing what belongs to kenyans i swear to god it has to come to an end in kenya kenyatta said1 kenyas president uhuru kenyatta has intensified his war on graft by announcing that all public servants will undergo a compulsory lifestyle audit to account for their sources of wealth1 kenyatta offered himself to be the first leader to undergo the audit that seeks to identify corrupt public officials saying the lifestyle audits would control the misuse of public funds. he said public servants would be required to explain their sources of wealth with an aim of weeding out those found to have plundered government funds1 you have to tell us this is the house you have this is your salary how were you able to afford it this car that you bought dont try to put it under your wifes name or sons name we will still know it is yours where did you get it you must explain and i will be the first person to undergo the lifestyle audit he said1 in the past month various corruption scandals involving tenders and suppliers in government agencies have been unearthed. the corruption scandals as revealed have exposed the theft of hundreds of millions of shillings by state officials from several government bodies1 so far more than 40 government officials including businesspeople have been arrested over the recent scandals1 kenyatta has continued to express his frustration about the graft which seems to have spiralled out of control since he came into office in 20131 this latest announcement follows financial scandals that have rocked the country with revelations that millions of dollars were lost in various government agencies through corrupt deals that involved government officials1 the president said the lifestyle audit will be key among other measures also put in place by the government to curb the vice1 earlier in the week kenyatta issued an executive order requiring all government entities and publicly owned institutions to publish full details of tenders and awards beginning july 1 20181 for example if this road is being built we want to know who won the tender for the construction how much was the tender who came in second and third why was the first person awarded instead of these two all these reasons we need to know. kenyans need to know so that it is out there that this company was awarded this tender belongs to a certain person these are the directors these are the shareholders. there will be no more hiding he said1 on june 1 kenyatta ordered that all heads of procurement and accounting units be vetted again. he said the vetting would include subjecting the officers to polygraph tests to determine integrity1 kenya scored 28 points out of 100 on the 2017 corruption perceptions index reported by transparency international. the corruption index in kenya averaged 22.62 points from 1996 until 20171 reported by voa1 -
Rivers LG Polls: We are on standby Army
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the nigerian army on friday said soldiers would be on standby to forestall possible violence in saturdays council elections in rivers1 col. aminu iliyasu spokesman of the nigerian army 6 division port harcourt told news agency of nigeria nan that soldiers would be deployed at strategic points several kilometres away from polling centres1 he explained that the army was adopting that position because we are not directly involved in the election and no soldier is going to be deployed for any election duty1 according to iliyasu it is only the police and department of state security that have the constitutional responsibility to provide security in the election1 however we are always on alert whenever there is election. we will only be on standby at the periphery in case our services are needed he said1 iliyasu said that soldiers were banned from going into polling centres and escort polling materials to the centres1 the rivers state independent electoral commission rsiec will conduct the elections in the 23 local government areas of the state. nan1 -
Trump aide Manafort sent to jail
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afp25 donald trumps former campaign chief paul manafort was sent to jail friday pending trial on a series of federal charges1 the revocation of manaforts bail was a fresh sign of the looming collision course between mueller and trump with the white house increasingly worried that the president could face obstruction of justice charges and an impeachment effort in congress1 manafort 69 had been under house arrest while awaiting trial in both the us capital and virginia. he has pleaded not guilty to all charges against him which also include obstruction of justice1 trump condemned the treatment of manafort a veteran washington political consultant as he sought to paint muellers team as well as the federal bureau of investigation which mueller once ran as deeply biased and illegitimate1 wow what a tough sentence for paul manafort who has represented ronald reagan bob dole and many other top political people and campaigns trump wrote on twitter1 didnt know manafort was the head of the mob he said. very unfair1 earlier trump lashed out at the entire investigation labelling it a ridiculous witch hunt after a justice department watchdog report revealed that several fbi investigators had sent anti-trump text messages during the 2016 campaign1 there was no collusion there was no obstruction and if you read the report what youll really see is bias against me trump said1 manafort who is facing trial later this year on money laundering charges involving his work for ukraine that predated the 2016 presidential election saw his bail revoked by judge amy berman jackson over claims he was trying to influence witnesses in his case1 manafort who is facing money laundering and tax evasion charges among others was the first former trump campaign aide to be jailed in the sprawling probe led by special counsel robert mueller since may 20171 muellers team has been seeking to interview trump as well and questions they have submitted to the white house indicate that they are also investigating whether trump has illegally interfered with the probe1 on friday trump sought to make use of the justice department inspector generals report on the 2016 investigation into hillary clintons use of a private email server during her time as secretary of state to erode confidence in muellers operation1 while the ig report made almost no mention of mueller or any alleged wrongdoing by trump the president claimed it exonerates him while his lawyer rudy giuliani said mueller and his team themselves should be investigated1 the report yesterday may be more important than anything. it totally exonerates me trump told journalists in front of the white house1 the report faulted the fbi and its former director james comey whom trump fired in may 2017 over the handling of the clinton email probe1 it said comey who cleared clinton of allegations of mishandling classified materials was insubordinate and guilty of bad judgment1 it also showed several agents involved in both that investigation and the subsequent russia meddling probe repeatedly expressing anti-trump bias in private text messages1 that is probably the tip of the iceberg trump said. there was total bias i mean total bias1 he referred to comey and other senior fbi officials as the scum at the top of the bureau and as total thieves1 he is one of 20 people and three companies already indicted by mueller who is investigating whether members of the campaign colluded with russia during and after the election1 -
Boris Becker dodges bankrupty case as CARs ambassador
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when asked about becker european commission spokeswoman maja kocijancic told a daily news briefing in brussels on friday we have neither been involved in this appointment nor been asked for eu accreditation1 three-time wimbledon champion boris becker announced friday he is claiming diplomatic immunity from bankruptcy proceedings in britain as an ambassador for the central african republic1 becker who won six grand slams in the 1980s and 90s was declared bankrupt by a london court in june 2017 for failing to pay a long-standing debt1 but his position as attache to the european union on sporting cultural and humanitarian affairs could be covered by the 1961 vienna convention on diplomatic relations1 this means the consent of britains foreign secretary boris johnson and his counterpart in bangui would be needed before becker is subjected to any legal proceedings his lawyers said1 the bankruptcy application was made by private bankers arbuthnot latham1 becker however said the decision to commence bankruptcy proceedings against me was both unjustified and unjust1 a bunch of anonymous and unaccountable bankers and bureaucrats pushed me into a completely unnecessary declaration of bankruptcy which has inflicted a whole heap of damage on me both commercially and professionally and on those close to me he added in a statement issued by his lawyers1 i have now asserted diplomatic immunity as i am in fact bound to do in order to bring this farce to an end so that i can start to rebuild my life1 a spokesman for arbuthnot contacted by afp in london declined to comment1 lawyers for the 50-year-old tennis player a former world number one lodged a claim thursday in the high court asserting immunity after he was appointed a sports attache for the central african republic in april1 so as concerns the role he is playing maybe best to ask your questions to the authorities of the central african republic1 mark stephens a lawyer with london-based law firm howard kennedy and an expert in diplomatic immunity said becker should not be allowed to avoid accountability just because he has a role with the central african republic1 stephens told britains press association the vienna convention which established diplomatic immunity was intended to protect the highest members of state sovereigns prime ministers that sort of thing not advisers to fishing organisations say1 the trustees handling the bankruptcy said they do not accept these assertions made by becker1 we welcome mr beckers appointment to promote sport in the central african republic. however we believe that it has no material impact on mr beckers bankruptcy trustee mark ford said in a statement1 becker shook up the tennis world at wimbledon in 1985 when as an unseeded player he became the then youngest-ever male grand slam champion at the age of 17 defending the trophy the following year1 the german went on to enjoy a glittering career and amassed more than 25 million in prize money1 beckers tangled private life has also kept him in the news1 he has a daughter conceived in a brief but now famous encounter with a russian model who claimed she met becker at a london bar and had sex with him in a broom cupboard at a nearby japanese restaurant1 in january becker appealed for help in tracking down five missing grand slam trophies which he said he needed to sell to help pay off his debts1 -
Kola Abiola: Jonathan thrice rejected GCFR for MKO
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read more in7 former president goodluck jonathan thrice rebuffed suggestions he bestow the grand commander of the order of the federal republic honour onchief mko abiola1 he said jonathan rejected the suggestion for political reasons1 according to mkos son he first approached the then attorney-general of the federation mohammed adoke san to honour his father during the centenary celebration in january 2014 but a gold award was given to the deceased which was rejected by the family1 kola said during his second attempt he wrote a letter to jonathan through the serving overseer of the latter rain assembly pastor tunde bakare during the build-up to the 2015 elections but nothing was done1 he said even after jonathan had lost and was preparing to leave office he made another attempt to get him to honour mko but it failed again1 kola abiola said towards the election i approached them again this time in writing and solicited the help of pastor bakare and told them that even if it was for selfish political reasons this was something you could do to help your chances of winning elections1 i really didnt mind how he got it done. but we couldnt get president jonathan to get it done so we left that1 mr. kola abiola the eldest son of the winner of the june 12 1993 presidential election chief mko abiola made the revelation in a channels tv interview broadcast on thursday night1 abiolas son said after president muhammadu buhari took office he sent a letter through pastor bakare again to take to the president who was in kaduna at the time1 he said buhari bought into the idea and exceeded the expectations of the abiola family as he did not only honour the deceased with the highest title in the land but also issued an apology to his family on behalf of the federal government1 kola noted that he did not approach former president olusegun obasanjo to honour his father because he felt there was no point doing so as the answer would have been obvious1 he however said he approached the late president umaru yaradua who promised to address the issue but died in office1 when asked his view on jonathans naming of the university of lagos as moshood abiola university lagos kola said that was a mistake. they were trying to regionalise mko. he was beyond that. this man was voted across nigeria irrespective of religion1 i went back to them and told them if they had consulted me i would have told them what to do1 after he lost the election i approached him a second time also through the same pastor bakare to try to get him to do this as a legacy of his presidency something that nigerians would never forget about him. last minute we couldnt get it to happen1 -
Zamfara killings: Gov. Yari resigns role as Chief Security Officer
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the governor lamented that it was disheartening that killings in the state had continued in spite of the president muhammadu buharis order to security agencies to end the incessant blood-letting across the country1 gov. abdulaziz yari of zamfara state said he had dropped his responsibility as chief security officer of the state as he had no control over security machinery in the state1 he deplored the prevailing situation where as the chief security officer of the state he could not take decisions on strategies for protecting the state and its people and had it implemented1 we have been facing serious security challenges over the years but in spite of being governor and chief security officer of the state i cannot direct security officers on what to do nor sanction them when they err1 as chief security officer the nomenclature in just a name he said1 speaking to newsmen in talata-mafara on friday yari said that his decision stemmed from the seeming helplessness of the state government and the people over recurring killings in the state1 according to him since the presidents order the killings have not stopped. in a week there were attacks in this state which claimed over 30 lives1 he said that the state government was spending huge amount of its resources on security but to no avail1 yari therefore urged people of the state to be more faithful to god and embark on special prayers over the challenges facing the state1 he also appealed to them to be patient and continue to cooperate with the government and security agencies as steps were being taken to address the challenges1 we cannot keep quiet while our people are being killed daily. we are going to cooperate with all stakeholders to bring the situation to an end he added1 -
Good governance: Osinbajo commends Edo governor
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vice president yemi osinbajo says edo in the last one decade has retained its status as a reference point with regards to good governance in the country1 osinbajo gave the commendation at a state dinner held in his honour at the edo government house in benin on thursday following the vice presidents two-day official visit to the state1 he expressed satisfaction with the efforts of the gov. godwin obaseki-led administration in edo to re-enact the developmental strides recorded during the administration of late dr samuel ogbemudia1 the vice president gave an assurance of the preparedness of the federal government to give the state all the necessary support1 he said the various projects which informed his visit to edo would no doubt help boost the economy of the state especially the federal government south-south innovation hub1 in his remarks obaseki expressed gratitude to the vice president for the continued support to edo1 he said several initiatives of the office of the vice president had provided employment and source of income for youths in the state1 the n-power and n-build programmes have remained major sources of encouragement for the state in its drive for greatness he said1 the deputy governor of edo phillip shaibu in his address of welcome solicited for more support from the federal government to enable the entrenchment of its developmental programmes in the state1 an highlight of the occasion was the announcement by obaseki of full scholarship to miss obakpolor esosa a senior secondary school student of idia college following her presentation on the menace of human trafficking. nan1 -
High sexual activities hit refugee camps
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araoyinbo said the body also carried out capacity building which served as a platform to link the volunteers to the patent medicine vendors the hot spots and the health care facilities where the condoms would be picked up1 the united nations population fund unfpa has discovered high level of survival sex in cameroonian refugees camps in cross rivers state1 it has therefore set up non-traditional condom outlets in the refugees settlements1 the intervention is to increase access to condoms in communities hosting refugees who fled from crisis hit anglophone southern cameroon1 unfpa said that after carrying out a joint needs assessment it was discovered that there was high level of transactional sex without access to condoms in the communities1 we have done this before but we are improving on it it is like a stop gap response1 we discovered there was high level survival sex in these communities and the women are not protected it said on friday1 the condom outlets target ikom obanliku boki akamkpa and etung local government areas of the cross river1 the project coordinator for unfpa dr idowu araoyinbo said on friday that the global body did a mapping to identify the health care providers close to the benefiting communities1 araoyinbo said that volunteers including refugees were engaged as focal persons to distribute and enlighten people in their wards on the benefits and proper usage of condoms1 we organised town hall meetings which served as information dissemination points to the communities on the availability of condoms in strategic locations and how they could utilise them effectively he said1 unfpa stated that the women involved in the communities were not protected with condoms1 he said a similar project had been carried out in the past which was not sustainable1 he said the volunteers picked up the condoms from the health care centres took them to the communities where they were given to the patent medicine vendors that already had dispensers available1 the dispensers he said were for control and were placed conspicuously in patent medicine stores so that the condoms were made available free of charge to communities1 the major challenge now is how the patent medicine dealers would be able to allow access because they dont work 24 hours but we hope to check this through the hot spots he said1 araoyinbo stated that he foresaw a future where patent medicine dealers would imbibe the culture of providing free condoms to their communities1 we told them that this would make them popular as there was nowhere in the world where people dont love business men who go beyond business to provide free humanitarian services he said1 he however said that though the project was aimed at sensitising people on condom usage the best form of prevention still remains abstinence1 araonyinbo also noted that statistics had shown that the sexual debut of nigerian youths had dropped to about 17 years for girls and 21 for the boys adding that efforts must be made to protect them1 our youths initiate sex early these days most of which are done without protection increasing the rate of hiv and other sexually transmitted diseases in our society1 because most new hiv cases are found among the youths the need to preach the use of condoms could not be over emphasised he said1 the project is being carried out in partnership with the nigeria red cross cross river primary health care agency state ministry of health as well as patent medicine dealers in benue and cross river1 -
Methodist priest, others regain freedom
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the methodist priest and two others abducted in iwo-ibadan road on sunday by suspected bandits have been released1 they were released on thursday according to report from the methodist church osogbo1 according to the report from the church the kidnapped persons who are members of the church were released on thursday night around 8.20p.m1 confirming the release to newsmen the bishop of the methodist church osogbo diocese most rev. amos ogunrinde said the priest very rev. kayode akande and the two other leaders of the church that were kidnapped had been released and reunited with their families1 ogunrinde however did not disclosed if any ransom was paid before the kidnapped men were released by the bandits1 when the state police public relations officers mrs folashade odoro was contacted about the report she said the police would release a statement about the whole incident later1 the news agency of nigeria nan recalls that the a priest and two elders of the methodist church osogbo were kidnapped on sunday while returning from a mens fellowship from ile-ogbo near iwo osun1 the police were reported to have deployed men and officers to rescue the kidnapped persons while the bandits were never reported to have contacted the family of the men to demand for ransom nan1 -
Sallah Durbar:10 riders fall off horses in Dutse
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no fewer than 10 riders fell off their horses during sallah durbar at dutse emirs palace on fridaynews agency of nigeria nan reports1 the incident happened during the mini durbar traditionally organised every year where the governor receives cheers and greetings from members of the emirate council from top of the emirs palace1 the riders fell while racing to greet gov. muhammad badaru of the stateafter observing the eid-el-fitr prayer at the central prayer ground at about 8.30 a.m1 however none of the riders sustain injury1 at the emirs palace district heads take turns to greet the governor as they raced on their decorated horses while the emir came last and exchanged greetings with his council members1 -
UK pledges support to EFCC
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he said inec and efcc should be there to preserve the integrity of the political process including taking forward investigations without any prejudice on one side or the other following the evidence and taking action where it is justified1 british high commissioner to nigeriapaul arkwright has said that the united kingdom uk will continue to support the anti-corruption crusade in nigeria as being spearheaded by the economic and financial crimes commission efcc1 arkwright who was accompanied by daniel murphy on a visit to the ffcc headquarters abuja commended the commissions efforts in ridding the country of corruption1 the uk and nigeria have evolved and made progress in the fight against corruption and the efccs achievements have been impressive he added1 he urged the efcc to work hand in hand with the independent national electoral commission inec in ensuring a free and fair political process in the buildup to the 2019 elections1 we are pleased to see how the efcc operates and we are assuring you of the endless support of the british government in the fight against corruption he said1 he further gave assurances of the british governments support both in technical assistance in investigation and of course broadening support of this great independent institution of the efcc1 ibrahim magu the acting efcc chairman appreciated the british government for its support and assured him of the independence of the efcc in the discharge of its mandate1 he said i assure you that there is no political interference in what we do. we will continue to work with stakeholders like inec who we have an agreement with to ensure that there is no interference to ensure free and fair election in nigeria and we will stop people using money to buy votes1 according to him the efcc operates international best practices and does diligent preliminary investigation1 we do not invite anybody here if he is not found to be involved in one offence or crime and that is why when you come here it takes a lot of effort to be off the chain. whatever case that comes to efcc is investigated to the logical conclusion. we take the case to court who gives the final decision he added1