World number three Marin Cilic crashed out of the ATP Indian Wells tournament on Tuesday, losing in straight sets to Germanys Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-4, 6-4.

Caroline Wozniacki, the womens World number two is also out, dumped by Russian Daria Kasatkina, ranked 19. Danish Wozniacki lost 4-6 7-5.

Venus Williams,38 in June, on the other hand continues to defy her age by beating Latvias Anastasija Sevastova in straight sets to move into the quarter finals, winning 7-6 6-4.

Venus is ranked eighth in the world, while her opponent, who is 28 years old, is ranked 20th.

The 29-year-old Cilic, who reached the finals of two of the last three Grand Slams, dropped to a record of 10-4 on the season.

Kohlschreiber advances to the fourth round where he will play unseeded Pierre-Hugues Herbert who won his third round match when fellow Frenchman Gael Monfils retired in the second set with a lower back injury.

Cilic blasted five aces but couldnt overcome Kohlschreibers strong serving game. The German won 76 percent of his first serve points and broke Cilics serve twice, once in each set.

Kohlschreiber is now 7-4 overall against Cilic. He has won three out of their last four meetings, including a straight set victory in the final in Munich on clay in 2012. He won their first meeting on hardcourt in Moscow in 2007.

Cilic, who is considered to be one of the most consistent players on the Tour, claimed his 17th career title in Istanbul last year. He also reached the final at Wimbledon.

In January, he lost in five sets in the final of the Australian Open to Roger Federer, the third Grand Slam final of his career.

In the first set Kohlschreiber got the key break he needed in the third game to go up 2-1. He managed to hold serve for the rest of the set and take the final game on four straight points.

He got another break of serve in the seventh game of the second set to pull ahead 4-3 then held serve in the next game to go up 5-3.

Kohlschreiber closed out the contest on match point when Cilics final backhand shot hit the net cord and fell back into his side of the court.

Source: NAN

By Isaac Aregbesola

The Federal Government says it is working with Libyan Authority to negotiate the release of all Nigerians in Libya slave camps and ensure their repatriation safely to the country.

Foreign Affairs Minister, Geoffrey Onyeama told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday in Abuja that negotiations were ongoing with some of the militia groups controlling some camps who were demanding money to allow access to their camps.

The minister said he had a meeting with the outgoing Libyan Ambassador to Nigeria, Dr Attai Alkhoder, who promised his countrys cooperation to ensure the release of Nigerians in the slave camps.

He said the federal government was working relentlessly to ensure that all Nigerians in Libya slave camps were repatriated safely to the country.

I met with the Libyan ambassador who promised to cooperate on the issue of migrants; I let him know that we appreciate what the Libya is doing.

We agreed on way forward, that the Libya government will continue to help us to access those camps where there are still Nigerians outside the control of the Libyan government, he said.

Onyeama stressed that the efforts required negotiations with the militia groups who were in control of the camps.

We have been given some amount that we have to pay to those rebels before we can get our people out, but it has not been easy.

There is an instance that it has to be negotiated down to 2,500 dollars per camp to get Nigerians out. There is another camp that we have to negotiate around that figure also, he said.

The Minister, however, said that not all Nigerians in Libya were irregular migrants, adding that there were some who were living legally in Libya.

There are Nigerians who are actually in Libya legally and are doing their legitimate jobs and we have some of them who are actually useful in helping us to look for Nigerians in the country, he said.

The minister said that Nigeria would want to work towards ensuring that peace returned to Libya by ensuring that that country has a central government and police central authority.

When a central authority is in control that is when it will be easier to relate with the country and address some of the problems they are having with regards to irregular migrants, he said.

Onyeama said the outgoing ambassador assured that he would support Nigeria in ensuring that irregular migrants were safely repatriated.

He said the envoy also stressed on the need for improved bilateral relations between both countries.

Source: NAN

By Wandoo Sombo

A Federal High Court, Abuja, on Tuesday ruled that the issue of elevation would not stop a judge from carrying out his or her duty.

Justice Gabriel Kolawole gave the ruling in the N9 billion alleged fraud trial against former Benue governor, Gabriel Suswam.

The judge made the clarification as a result of concern raised by counsel to Suswam, Mrs Chinelo Ogbozor, as a result of Justice Kolawoles elevation.

The issue was objected to by the prosecuting counsel, Mr Aminu Alilu.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Federal Government is prosecuting Suswam and two others over diversion of N9.79 billion.

Part of the diverted funds was said to be for police reform and Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Programme.

Those charged alongside Suswam in the 32- count charge are Omadachi Oklobia, his former Commissioner for Finance, and Janet Aluga, former Accountant , Benue Government House.

In the charge, the trio allegedly cornered the said funds between 2012 and 2015 while Suswam was governor of the state.

They are also accused of conspiracy, conversion of property derived directly from corruption; collaboration to conceal property derived from corruption; obtaining by false pretence and accepting cash payments, exceeding the amount authorised by law.

Counsel to Suswam, Mrs Chinelo Ogbozor told the court that her client had certain concerns with regards to proceeding with the trial.

According to her, in view of the recent development, which is in public domain even though not yet made official, which is with regards to the elevation of my lord, we will be asking for the courts direction.

She said that as a result of their concerns, they were not prepared to proceed with the matter.

Mr A.O. Ochogwu, counsel to the second defendant in the matter said that his client shared the same views with that of the first defendant.

Ochogwu, however, added that since the court had also fixed March 15 to hear the matter, he prayed the court for an adjournment to enable counsel prepare to commence trial.

Alilu, however, maintained that the reason given by the defence for not being ready to proceed was not tenable as there were provisions in law to take care of instances of elevation of a judge.

If a diligent search had been done, the defence will realise that Section 396 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, (ACJA) has taken care of the issue of elevation.

We also have our concerns; we transported our witnesses all the way from Benue, so how do we take care of their accommodation and feeding until Thursday?

Kolawole noted that the issue of elevation would not stop a judge from carrying out his or her duty.

In a short ruling he said: When the matter came up the defence raised concerns over proceeding with the matter on account of elevation of a judge.

But the prosecution had a different view because of Section 396 of ACJA that says a judge elevated shall return and conclude the criminal matter he was handling.

Kolawole, however, said that he could not hear the matter because he had fixed a pre-election matter and that since he was assured of another date for the case, he would adjourn it until the next date.

He subsequently adjourned the matter until March 15 for the trial to commence.

The offences are said to be contrary to, and punishable under various provisions of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act 2011, and the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Related Offences Act.

Source: NAN

By Angela Atabo

Labour Party has decried the refusal of Independent National Electoral Commission(INEC) to recognise Dr Mike Omotosho as its National Chairman and urged the commission to do without further delay.

Forum of States Chairmen of the Labour Party made the call at a news conference on Tuesday in Abuja at the end of a two-day meeting of the body.

Chairman of the group, Mr Joseph Ndirang, said that Omotosho emerged at a special convention of the party in October, 2017, replacing Alhaji Abdulkadir Abdulsalam, who was removed over allegation of fraud.

He said INEC witnessed the convention but had refused to recognise and work with Omotosho as the chairman of the party.

Ndirang said that the situation had remained so in spite of the partys representations, which culminated in a protest to INECs headquarters in Abuja in February.

According to him, INECs silence on the issue is undermining the partys decision at the 2017 convention which brought in Omotosho.

He said that the party was surprised that till date, the commission was yet to recognise Omotosho.

The meeting observed with dismay the inability of INEC, as the regulator of the activities of political parties, to fully comply and impartially implement the overflowing decision of the highest organ.

The Labour Partys convention unanimously removed the former chairman, Abdulkadir Abdulsalam, and elected Omotosho as the new Chairman of the party.

The meeting noted that the convention that removed Abdulsalam from office was convened in line with the provisions of the partys Constitution, Article 13c and in conformity with the requirements and guidelines of INEC.

To that extent, there should not have been any reason why Abdulsalams name is still hoisted on INECs website after INEC supervised and monitored the constitutional process that duly removed him, he said.

Ndirang added that for avoidance of doubts, copies of the Nigeria Police report and the forensic audit report carried out on the partys financial accounts that indicted Abdulsalam was made available.

He expressed the forums displeasure over the continuous illegal self-parade of Abdulsalam as national chairman of the party after the National Working Committee and the convention had removed him from office.

He said that this perpetuation of illegality had misled people into assuming that the party was in a kind of crisis, which was not true.

The Chairmens forum re-affirms the outcome of the 2017 special convention and also demands that all relevant stakeholders respect and uphold the decisions of the party.

The meeting demands that INEC recognizes and only deal, henceforth, with Omotosho as the duly elected National Chairman of the party, the forum chairman said.

Ndirang said that the forum also rejected the clandestine move of a former governor to hijack the party through the back door, adding that the governor abandoned the party that made him.

He said that the chairmen also rejected every plan by detractors to drag the party into any unholy coalition for selfish interest.

He said that the party would continue to remain a solid political party with its socialist ideology for the betterment of the Nigerians.

When contacted, Director of Voter Education and Publicity at INEC, Mr Oluwole Osaze-Uzzi, said that he had no in-depth knowledge of the crisis in the party.

He promised to check and ascertain what the position of the commission was on the chairmanship issue.

When the leadership of the party protested to INEC in February, Assistant Director on Security, Mr Musa Sekpa, had assured that the issue would be looked into.

Source: NAN

Kenyan has taken far reaching steps to stop people with some health conditions, including high blood pressure, from driving.

Those with high blood pressure are among those who may not be allowed to have a drivers licence.

The countrys National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) released the new driving curriculum with recommendation of mandatory medical tests for epilepsy, high blood pressure, sight and hearing problems for all drivers.

According to the new curriculum, drivers are supposed to renew their licences every 10 years, and only after submitting a medical report.

However, motorists above 60 years must submit a medical report every year.

The medical tests will also include a range of brain-related conditions and diseases that disable mobility and muscle movement such as stroke.

In the curriculum, eye conditions lead a long list of mandatory medical tests for new drivers as well as old ones seeking licence renewals.

According to NTSA Deputy Director in charge of safety, Dr, Duncan Kibogong, some conditions will lead to automatic disqualification.

For epilepsy, it is a no. The fact is, no one, including the driver, has any idea when the seizures can occur, said Dr Kibogong.

The medical tests will also include the drivers heart condition as well as sleep, alcohol and drug-related disorders.

The tests will also look out for a drivers susceptibility to non-communicable diseases such as diabetes and stroke.

Kibogong said NTSA would work closely with the Ministry of Health to ensure that only those who were fit were allowed on the road.

In some cases, it does not make sense to even allow you to train as a driver when we know you are not fit, said Kibogong.

He however insisted that the mandatory health clearance should not be viewed as discrimination against certain conditions.

In most of these cases, it is just about correcting them. For example, for poor eyesight, you can be given glasses and you will be fine. There are only a few conditions that we may not allow, he said.

Drivers to be affected by the new rules are those applying for new licences and those seeking renewals this year.

The practice of pegging the issuance of drivers licences to medical tests may be new in the country but has been in force for years in other parts of the world.

In New York, for instance, if one loses the use of a leg, arm, eye or ear, such information must be included on the driving licence.

Such drivers are then only allowed to operate customised vehicles.

Similarly, if the drivers hearing is not acceptable, a restriction of hearing aid or full-view mirror is added to the driver licence.

Those who wear hearing aids and cannot pass the hearing test must use full-view rear mirrors.

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Source: NAN

South Sudans President Salva Kiir has dismissed army commander Marial Chanuong Yol and Finance minister Stephen Dhieu Dau.

Kiir fired them without giving reasons.

Yol, nicknamed Tiger, was the commander of the presidential guard, before he was appointed the army chief of operations, training and intelligence last year.

He was blacklisted by the UN Security Council in 2015 for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity committed during the onset of war in December 2013 against members of the the Nuer ethnic group.

Mr Dau was appointed Finance minister in 2016, with the hope of improving South Sudans straining economy.

However, the economy of the young nation has never been stable, especially since the 2015 devaluation of the South Sudanese Pound (SSP).

Former technical advisor at the Ministry of Trade Salvatore Garang Mabiordit, was named the new Finance minister.

South Sudan attained independence in 2011 following a referendum whose outcome favoured the separation from Sudan with a 98 per cent approval.

However, it soon descended into another round of conflict pitting President Kiirs loyalists and those allied to his former deputy Riek Machar.

The current phase of the South Sudan war has claimed more than 100,000 lives, according to the International Crisis Group.

Over 2 million South Sudanese have become refugees in neighbouring countries and another 1.9 million others remain internally displaced, according to the UN.
The war has also caused one of the worlds worst humanitarian crises after the Rwanda 1994 genocide, the UN added.

Multiple human rights abuses have also been documented by various group

Source: The

Source: NAN

More than 8,000 Ethiopian refugees have arrived in Moyale Town, Marsabit County in Kenya with tales on how they were evacuated from their homes by soldiers.

They fled the country in the wake of their governments crackdown on dissidents, with Ethiopian soldiers being accused of killing at least 13 people on Saturday.

The refugees accused the Ethiopian government of abdicating its responsibility of protecting its citizens.

The camps where the 8,200 Ethiopians are staying in Moyale are at Butiye Social Hall, Somare, an NGO camp at Moyale, a plot owned by Marsabit Governor Mahmoud Mohamed and Dambala Fachana Village.

Mr Harsame Halakhe, a 68-year-old father of 19, said that when the soldiers raided their homes, they ordered them to lie down and shot some of them dead.

Even places of worship, including mosques, became chambers of death. People were killed in a mosque as we watched. We escaped death narrowly and fled with children and cattle, he said.

Ms Kashure Guyo, 18, said the soldiers attacked them on Saturday at Shawa-bare, a town located three kilometres from the Kenya-Ethiopia border.

She said the soldiers shot at anyone they came across. She was injured in the leg and hand as she fled. They just came to the market and started shooting. We had to flee for our lives with bullets flying all over.

Ms Abdia Galma, a 56-year-old mother of 11, said the conflict had been building up over the past several years.

She said the genesis of the crisis was land that had been allocated to some members of one community she did not name.

The refugees spoke even as the Kenya Red Cross Society sounded the alarm over the influx. The society appealed to the humanitarian and security agencies to set up a proper camp for the refugees.
Even as more refugees arrived in the Kenyan border town yesterday, there was no designated area for the consolidation of the numbers and their registration, KRCS upper eastern coordinator Talaso Chucha said.

She noted that the refugees were arriving in the villages, where they were being assisted by their Kenyan relatives and friends, with no proper record of how many they were. Ms Chucha also decried the security risk as there was no system in place to screen and monitor the movement of the refugees arriving in the town.

So far, they are 8,200 and more are arriving every hour. We have identified at least five points, where they have been assisted by the local community, but we cannot coordinate help when they are scattered. There is a need for a camp to enable us to mobilise resources and avert a crisis, she said.

At least 15 paramedics had been deployed to Moyale to help the refugees, she said.

There is a major potential health risk for the refugees and the host community because there are no amenities in the places where they are staying. There is no food, clean water and bedding.

Children are defecating in the open. Although, so far, there are no reported cases of serious diseases, we cannot rule out an outbreak of cholera if the situation is not addressed, Ms Chucha warned.

The National Drought and Management Authoritys Marsabit County boss, Mr Golicha Guyo, Tuesday said they had called an emergency meeting with all the stakeholders to assess the situation.

We want to come up with an urgent solution to the crisis because more than 50 people are living in one home, he said.

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Source: NAN

Egypt has established a hotline to gather complaints of fake news in the traditional or electronic media.

The countrys judiciary announced the hotlines with the instruction that only those issues that could pose a threat to national security would be entertained.

Two weeks ahead of elections in Egypt, the media have been under close scrutiny, with an increase in cases of journalists being arrested and websites blocked.

The Egyptian judiciary has set aside mobile telephone numbers to receive complaints on the instant messaging app WhatsApp and by SMS, so long as the name of the complainant and their personal details are given, it said in a statement.

It said the initiative was aimed against premeditated fake information damaging to national security and the countrys interests

The decision has started generating reactions in the social media with Rahmy Botros @ramygerges tweeting I am correct in every statement, I lived in Egypt, USA, and visited UK, walked the streets, I tweet what I actually c, i dont believe in traditional media , sheeple news outlet, and social media, but lately decided to do my part and try to fight the fake news and stereotype.

Sofia Ahmed @sofiaas23 said: HARD TO SWALLOW Pop star Sherine Abdel Wahab jailed in Egypt for fake news after joking about catching parasites from polluted River Nile . Sherine Wahab jailed for Nile River joke.

Ganzeer @ganzeer Call me biased but it seems to me that Egypt has been setting the precedent for a number of trends over the past few years. Arresting journalists for the dissemination of fake news could, very dangerously, be one of them.

Source: NAN

(dpa/NAN) President Rodrigo Duterte of Philippines on Wednesday announced the withdrawal of the countrys ratification of the treaty that established the International Criminal Court (ICC).

I therefore declare and forthwith give notice, as president of the Republic of the Philippines, that the Philippines is withdrawing its ratification of the Rome Statute effective immediately, he said in a statement.

Duterte alleged that the ICC was being utilised as a political tool against the Philippines after its prosecutor prematurely announced a preliminary examination of allegations against him relating to killings amid his campaign against illegal drugs.

NAN reports that in February, the ICC said it had started a preliminary examination to establish whether it had jurisdiction, and if crimes against humanity had been committed.

The complaint, which says Duterte is complicit in the illegal deaths of thousands of Filipinos during his war on drugs, was a waste of the courts time and resources and the examination would be the end of the process, presidential spokesman Harry Roque said.

About 4,000 mostly urban poor Filipinos have been killed by police in the past 19 months in a brutal crackdown that has alarmed the international community.

Activists believe the death toll is far higher.

Roque said he had discussed the ICC issue for two hours the previous night with Duterte, a former prosecutor, adding that the president more than willing to face trial.

The website of the ICC, which sits in the Hague in the Netherlands, carried no new information concerning the complaint against Duterte.

The courts office could not immediately be reached for comment.

Since it was set up in 2002, the ICC has received more than 12,000 such complaints or communications, just nine of which have gone to trial.

Duterte dared it to bring him to trial and said he would rot in jail to save Filipinos from crime and drugs.

His tirades against the court are notorious, and include calling it bullshit, hypocritical and useless, stemming from one of its prosecutors saying there could be grounds for an investigation into his bloody crackdown.

He also threatened to cancel the Philippines ICC membership and said European lawyers were rotten, stupid, and had a brain like a pea.

Police say those thousands of killings were during legitimate anti-drugs operations in which the suspects had violently resisted arrest.

Duterte has boasted about killing thousands of drug dealers and has told police they can kill if they believe their lives are in danger.

But his critics accuse him of incitement to murder and of refusing to properly investigate allegations that police are planting evidence, fabricating reports and executing users and dealers.

Duterte rejects such accusations and typically chides the international community for listening to what his government says are biased human rights groups that have no proof.

A Philippine lawyer filed the initial ICC complaint against Duterte and at least 11 senior officials in April 2017, saying crimes against humanity were committed repeatedly, unchangingly and continuously and killing drug suspects and other criminals had become best practice.

Senator Antonio Trillanes and Congressman Gary Alejano sent a supplementary communication several months later urging an ICC investigation, which included a list of public statements made by Duterte that they said amounted to shoot-to-kill orders.

Trillanes said the examination should jolt Duterte into realizing that he is not above the law.

Roque called the complainants domestic enemies of the state and said the ICC had no jurisdiction.

Source: NAN

Syrian army has discovered a clandestine plant in Eastern Ghouta that was used by the terrorists to produce military-grade agents.

They deadly chemical plant had equipment of Saudi origin and materials presumably made in Western countries.

The plant is located in al-Shefounieh town in the area of Duma.

Among other toxic chemicals, chlorine was found at the site and that the papers of the Jaysh al-Islam militant group were also discovered.

A Syrian field commander said that high-tech equipment was found at the plant, which indicates that European and Saudi experts could have been involved in the illegal production, according to the agency.

On Monday, Syrian government troops discovered, during a mopping-up operation in a village in Eastern Ghouta, another secret workshop constructed for production of various chemical munitions.

Last week, Syrian authorities have sent more than 100 letters to the UN Security Council confirming that terrorist groups own chemical substances that they use against civilians.

However, the UN-OPCW Joint Investigative Mechanism (JIM) presented last October to the UN Security Council a report on the April 4 chemical incident that took place in Khan Sheikhoun of the Syrian Idlib province, reportedly killing over 80 people with a toxic nerve agent sarin.

The report blamed the Syrian government for the alleged gas attack. The panel also accused the Daesh terrorist group of using chemical weapons in an attack on Syrias Um Housh in September 2016.

The Russias Mission to the United Nations said that the report looked more like an amateur document and was based mostly on assumptions and selective use of facts.

Eastern Ghouta was seized by militants in 2012. According to Syrian Army estimates, there are 10,000-12,000 militants in the region.

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Source: NAN