Medical charity MSF said Wednesday a Nigerian village that suffered an unprecedented and deadly lead poisoning outbreak had been cleared of the toxin, but that nearly 1,000 exposed children needed treatment. …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox World News
Nigeria will Wednesday begin withdrawal of some of its troops from Mali because they are needed back home, where the country is battling a deadly Islamist insurgency, officials said Tuesday. …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox World News
Gripping a machete he claimed was stained with blood, a 24-year-old civilian manned a checkpoint in one of Nigeria’s most dangerous cities, looking for members of a violent Islamist group. …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox World News
A battalion of Nigerian troops fighting Islamic extremists in Mali will return home Wednesday, where their country faces a similar challenge. …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox World News
Nigeria’s military says at least 12 people died in multiple blasts that rocked a Christian area in Nigeria’s northern and mainly Muslim Kano city. …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox World News
Multiple explosions have rocked a Christian area in Nigeria’s northern Kano city, with security forces ferrying scores of wounded to the hospitals. …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox World News
A series of loud explosions rocked Nigeria’s second city of Kano on Monday, residents said, describing at least four blasts in the Sabon Gari neighbourhood, which has been previously targetted by Boko Haram Islamists. …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox World News
Nigerian prosecutors on Monday widened charges against three Lebanese nationals accused of links to Hezbollah as their trial began with access to the courtroom restricted and the identities of witnesses concealed. …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox World News
Nigeria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs is denying reports the minister said he would allow gay married diplomats to be accredited. …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox World News
In attacks and reprisals between an Islamic militant group and vigilantes, at least 25 civilians were killed in northeast Nigeria, a vigilante group said Sunday. …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox World News
By Joanne Camas A six-foot-six, 275-pound guy baking dainty cupcakes is an incongruous picture, but many things Israel Idonije does break the mold. Idonije, an NFL veteran, who was born in Nigeria and raised in Canada, was recently honored at the White House for his humanitarian work. His foundation works with kids in his hometown of Winnipeg, Chicago, and West Africa, and he’s a visible presence at his all-star camps for inner-city youth. Defensive lineman Odonije has played for the Chicago Bears for 10 years and took the field in the Super Bowl with the team, but has just signed a one-year contract with the Detroit Lions. While his foundation will remain headquartered in the Windy City, you can imagine Izzy, as he’s known to kids and friends alike, will find time to brighten lives in the troubled Motor City too. The Detroit Lions start training camp for the upcoming season tomorrow, but Odonije managed to find time to answer some questions for Epicurious by email. I know food’s always been a big part of your life – for example, you helped your parents collect food for needy families when you were a child. Does it surprise you that so many families in this country are “food insecure”? It doesn’t surprise me about the amount of hungry children and families in the U.S. It is a sad and unnecessary situation — there is so much wasted surplus. It would be wonderful if there were a system in place to get the surplus food to people in need. Your foundation does a lot of great work with kids. Do you include healthy eating programs? The Israel Idonije Foundation focuses on five keys to life success. One of those keys is self-awareness. Who are you? Who do you want to be? Through self awareness we have the opportunity to discuss living a healthy lifestyle and the role that healthy eating plays. I hear that you love to make cupcakes. Why’s that a favorite thing, and how did it start? I love banana bread. So I make banana bread cupcakes with a blueberry cream cheese icing. It started with watching and helping my mother bake — pies, bread, cookies…you name it. Do you eat them all (hey, you’re an athlete, you need energy!)? Or do you take them to share with your teammates? I eat half and take half to the office or give them away. And do your teammates think it’s ironic that such an athletic man bakes? LOL. I think a lot of the guys cook. What’s your favorite recipe? Two favorites that I love to eat but do not cook are pounded yam and Ogbono soup, both of which are Nigerian recipes. I also love a glass of Chapman — another Nigerian favorite!! Do you cook any other specialties or family favorites? With my eyes closed, I make a great cedar plank salmon with miso glaze, shepherd’s pie, and turkey lasagna. What do you like to eat before a big game? I eat…<div …read more
Source: Epicurious
Enraged Nigerians are using petitions, protests and social networks to demand the Senate revisit a constitutional amendment on the age of consent. …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox World News
A British citizen who was kidnapped by gunmen shortly after landing at the international airport in Nigeria’s largest city has been released, an official said Monday. …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox World News
A British national has been kidnapped by gunmen shortly after landing at the international airport in Lagos, Nigeria’s largest city, a diplomat and a private security source told AFP Friday.
“There was a kidnapping of a Briton and we are working with the Nigerian authorities,” said Wale Adebayo, spokesman at the Deputy High Commission in Lagos, while a private security source confirmed it happened on Tuesday night as the target was en route from the airport.
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox World News
A British Consulate spokesman says a Briton has been kidnapped near the airport of Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial capital.
Wale Adebayo says diplomats are working with Nigerian authorities on this week’s kidnapping.
He said he could give no other information because of the “sensitive nature” of the issue.
Kidnappings for ransom are relatively common in oil-rich Nigeria — both of foreigners and wealthy Nigerians.
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox World News
Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara says Nigeria is withdrawing some of its 1,200 troops in Mali to fight an Islamic uprising back home.
The announcement comes 10 days before elections in Mali, which is fighting its own uprising by Islamic extremists.
The Nigerians were in a force of 12,600 African troops in Mali under a U.N. peacekeeping mandate preparing to take over from 4,500 French soldiers.
Ouattara told to reporters Thursday as chairman of a summit of West African nations in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital.
Nigerian military sources indicated most troops would be returning home. They spoke on condition of anonymity because formalities have not been completed with U.N. officials.
Troops fighting under a state of emergency in northeast Nigeria have complained that they have not been rotated for months.
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox World News
Well, supersonic jet travel may be practical, but will the market pay the price? For years, Jeff Miller has been exploring an array of issues surrounding the feasibility of supersonic business jet development. This is part one of a two-part series where he addresses some of the questions and provokes many more. Jeff Miller (bravojjm@gmail.com) specializes in corporate communications for the business aviation and luxury goods markets, and operates his own advertising agency dedicated to brand marketing. He has led corporate communications for Learjet and Gulfstream. The Anchorage airport has become a typical refueling stop for U.S.-to-Asia business jet flights. The aim is to get in and out fast. The terminals (known as FBOs) that service business aircraft are practiced at turning business flights quickly—sometimes in just 30 minutes. Passengers and pilots want to minimize ground delays. After all, business jets are only midway through 15 or 16-hour journeys. Sure, some of the newest intercontinental-range jets like the Gulfstream G650 and the Bombardier Global 8000, which boast extraordinary 8000 or 9000 statute miles range (effectively the distance between Chicago and Singapore), can eliminate the fuel stop. Even so, long-range business travel has a downside. It takes a physical toll on the toughest executives even when they’re flying aboard the most well-appointed business jets offering productive, comfortable cabins with outstanding eating, sleeping and work amenities. Still, it’s not uncommon for senior executives to make more than one trip from Brazil or the U.S. to Asia every month, and traffic flows the other way, too, with executives from Taiwan, Hong Kong and elsewhere heading to the Americas. Would these executives pay a 30 or 40 percent premium for a supersonic jet to cut those missions to half the time or less? The answer is almost certainly yes. The rationale for a supersonic business jet is stronger today than when companies such as Gulfstream, Dassault and others began displaying Concorde-like models at trade shows more than a decade ago. At that time, the principal market for business jets was in the U.S., with business aircraft designed principally for U.S. coast-to-coast or U.S. to Europe routes. Trade patterns have changed, and the action today is not just in major business jet destinations and markets in China, India, Brazil and Russia, but also in Australia, Malaysia, South Korea, Turkey, South Africa, Nigeria and the United Arab Emirates among many other emerging global trade destinations. The number one criterion for business jet purchasers, according to Honeywell Aerospace, is range. It is no wonder that a jet such as the Mach 0.925 Gulfstream G650 sells so well, even though it is, in truth, only modestly faster than an earlier generation of jets. The G650 will still save an hour on the longest trips, and with more than 200 purchased the first day it went on sale, the market has resoundingly indicated that an hour saved is worth paying for. Even before the economic emergence of China and other rapid growth regions outside of North America and Europe, …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Forbes Latest
Emergency responders trying to get to a man inside Kennedy Airport’s Delta terminal were twice thwarted at the security doors, and the New Jersey man ended up dying after a heart attack Saturday. Gunseye Adekunle, 50, was waiting to board a flight to Nigeria when he collapsed inside the newly… …read more
Nigeria plans to withdraw some of its troops from Mali because they are needed back home, where the country is battling a deadly Islamist insurgency, officials said Thursday.
It was not clear how many troops would be pulled from the troubled west African nation, where Nigeria currently has some 1,000 troops, a Nigerian military source said.
Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara, current chair of the 15-nation West African bloc ECOWAS, told reporters the withdrawal was because Nigeria needed its soldiers back home.
“It’s because of the domestic situation,” Ouattara said after an ECOWAS summit in the Nigerian capital Abuja.
“I received a letter from the president. Nigeria needs some of its people. They are not withdrawing everyone. They are withdrawing part of the troops. A good part of the troops are going to be there.”
However, the military source said troops would pull out because the country felt “shabbily treated” under the new UN force in Mali.
A Nigerian commanded the previous African-led force in the country, but the UN mission is being headed by a Rwandan. Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation and largest oil producer, has the biggest military in west Africa.
“Nigeria feels shabbily treated … when it became a UN outfit,” the military source said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to discuss the matter publicly.
“…A non-Nigerian was appointed as force commander while we are putting so much into the mission. So we think we can make better use of those people at home than to keep them where they are not appreciated.”
He added that “it is not all of them that will be withdrawn,” without providing specifics.
The UN mission integrates more than 6,000 west African soldiers into its ranks and is charged with ensuring security during and after July 28 elections in Mali.
It is to grow to 11,200 troops, plus 1,400 police, by the end of the year.
French forces intervened in Mali in January to push out Islamist rebels who had seized the north. The UN deployment has allowed France to start withdrawing most of its 4,500 troops.
Nigeria approved the deployment of 900 troops with the capacity to increase to 1,200 under the previous African-led force.
Nigeria’s military has been stretched thin back home.
Violence linked to an insurgency by Islamist extremist group Boko Haram, mainly in Nigeria’s north, has left some 3,600 people dead since 2009, including killings by the security forces.
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox World News
A man died after suffering a heart attack at Kennedy Airport after two teams of first responders failed to reach him — because their electronic ID cards couldn’t open secure doors at the newly renovated Delta terminal, The Post has learned.
Precious minutes were lost due to the tragic snafu, which unfolded early Saturday when Gunseye Adekunle, 50, of New Jersey, collapsed in the $1.4 billion Terminal 4 while he was preparing to board an Arik Air flight to Nigeria, sources said.
A call went out for help, but what happened next was a massive mix-up.
“You had all the assets needed to keep this guy alive, but they never really had the chance to help him,” a law-enforcement source said.
A Port Authority police emergency operator got the call at about 6:30 a.m. and was told Adekunle was “unresponsive” but breathing.
One minute later, a PAPD ambulance known as Medical One was dispatched — but the crew reported being unable to enter the terminal from the street two minutes afterward because an officer’s security card wasn’t working.
“Access denied at elevator,” a radio transmission noted.
The trouble delayed the Medical One team for two vital minutes, but then they were able to get into the building by another route and get to Adekunle.
The Medical One rescuers are only EMTs, however, and the plan was for an FDNY crew of better-equipped and better-trained paramedics to arrive and take over.
But that second rescue squad also ran into frustrating issues with security doors. At about 7:10, the Fire Department responders were denied entry when the security system refused to recognize an ID access card used by a PA cop escorting them. The delay robbed the dying man of more precious seconds.
“Seconds are critical when responding to a cardiac event,” a source familiar with the incident said, “and unfortunately, unnecessary obstacles take away those critical seconds and possibly a patient’s fighting chance.”
A source said the cop used his card twice at one entry point and again at a second, but was unable to lead the FDNY team inside.
Click for more from NYPost.com
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox US News
