Tuesday, 4 April 2017
Ahmadu Ali denies military wing existence in PDP
The crisis in the now opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) may still take a very long time to resolve - While the party has been factionalised, two former Army chiefs have opposed each other over claims of a military wing in the party Ahmadu Ali, a former military officer and ex-National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has denied the existence of any military wing in the party. Ahmadu Ali said there was no military wing in the PDP as claimed by the former President Babangida. Ali was reacting to a claim by former military president, Ibrahim Babangida, that the PDP had a military wing, while he spoke at the book presentation of Lt Gen Ishaya Bamaiyi’s “Vindication of a General”, Ali noted that he served the PDP for three years and never saw any military wing as was being claimed. “I am not aware of any military wing in PDP,” he said. The report quoted Babangida as saying recently while receiving the report of the Senator Ahmed Makarfi-committee on ‘strategy and inter party Affairs ‘ led by professor Jerry Gana at his residence, Minna Niger state that: “We are the military wing of PDP, we took a lot of interest in the PDP.I thank God we came up with the concept that PDP should rule for 60 years.”
Struggle for President Buhari’s job a distractions to Nigeria, - El-Rufai
Kaduna state governor Nasir El-Rufai has said that the struggle for the position of President Muhammadu Buhari has created confusion in Nigeria’s political system.According to the Kaduna chief executive, politicians aspiring to be the next leader of Nigeria have kicked off the rat race for the country’s top job way ahead of the timeline. He said this is as a result of President Buhari’s ill health which makes many of them feel that he would not run for a second term. He said: “Because of the feeling that the president may not run for a second term, people are already gearing up. Some politicians want President Buhari's job because of his ill health “All of us are getting distracted by the coterie of ambitious presidential aspirants that are trying to kick-start the political process ahead of the normal timeline.” Although he admitted that President Buhari has not indicated that he would run again in 2019, El-Rufai however said that most ruling party members would like him to seek a second term. He said: “Many of us that campaigned vigorously for him in 2015 are hoping that his health will improve and stabilize and that he will run again in 2019. “We need the policy continuity and the stability in the political environment for the country to make progress.” Transview magazine gathered that this comes just as Chief Chekwas Okorie, the National Chairman of the United Progressives Party (UPP), said Buhari should not run again. Okorie was reacting to the statement by Femi Adesina, the presidential spokesperson, who said Buhari would win if he presents himself for another election. Okorie said that Adesina did not read the mood of the nation well before making his comment.
AI engineer builds and marries his robot wife
A 31-year-old AI engineer has married one of his robot creations.
Zheng Jiajia, who used to work for Chinese telecoms giant Huawei, held an informal wedding ceremony for himself and his robot wife in Hangzhou, local papers report.
The robot, named Yingying, is able to speak in simple sentences in response to audio prompts, and visually recognise Chinese characters and images.
IMAGE: WEIBO
At Huawei, where Zheng worked for three years, he founded a unit specialising in AI and robotics.
Zheng now runs a startup called Brain of Things (物本脑科技) in Hangzhou's incubator village, Dream Town, where he's given Yingying a job as the company spokesperson.
IMAGE: PEAR VIDEO
Zheng told the local TV station that he has plans to upgrade Yingying to give her the ability to walk and do some household chores.
Their wedding ceremony was attended by his mother and friends. The bride's head was covered in with a red veil, in traditional custom.
It's highly possible that this has been an elaborate publicity stunt to promote his company's AI and neural network technologies.
Still, Zheng seemed fairly sincere in his interview with Pear Video, saying: "My dream of making my own spouse finally came true. I want to see robots in every home, and ultimately I want to build a realistic robot girlfriend."
Some experts have predicted that marriage between humans and robots will become legal by 2050, driven by public demand.
WATCH: Bizarre Boston Dynamics robot moves like a world-class athlete
Thursday, 30 March 2017
Crash involving church van and truck leaves 13 dead
Thirteen people died and two others injured in a crash involving a church minibus and a truck.
The smash happened as a group from a Baptist church in Texas was on its way back from a retreat on Wednesday at about 12.30pm.
Source claimed that vehicles in the accident appeared to had been involved in a head-on collision.
It occurred about 75 miles (120km) west of San Antonio, on US highway 83, in Uvalde County.
It is not known how many of those who died were travelling in the pick-up truck and how many in the minibus.
All of the occupants of the minibus were 55 or over, police said.
The cause of the crash is also yet to be determined.
Officials at the First Baptist Church, New Braunfels, where the van was based, said members had spent three days at the Alto Frio Baptist Encampment before setting off to return.
The retreat was about nine miles (14km) north of where the crash happened.
Officials were "ministering to family members to help them deal with this tragedy", a statement on the church's website said.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott and his wife, Cecilia, offered their condolences.
"We are saddened by the loss of life and our hearts go out to all those affected," they said in a statement.
"We thank the first responders working on the scene in the wake of this unimaginable tragedy, and ask that all Texans join us in offering their thoughts and prayers."
INEC chairman gets international appointment from ECOWAS
Nigeria’s representative, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, who is also Chairman, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has emerged President of the ECOWAS Network of Electoral Commissions (ECONEC). INEC chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu has emerged President ECOWAS Network of Electoral Commissions (ECONEC) Mr Rotimi Oyekanmi, Yakubu’s Chief Press Secretary, said this in a statement on Wednesday in Abuja. According to Oyekanmi, the INEC boss emerged president after a keen contest in Cotonou, Republic of Benin.Oyekanmi said the INEC chairman polled 10 votes to defeat his Guinean counterpart, who received four votes. He said that Republic of Benin and Guinea Bissau candidates emerged First and Second Vice Presidents respectively, while Burkina Faso clinched the position of Treasurer. Oyekanmi stated that Yakubu’s election followed two days of deliberations on how to deepen the conduct of free, transparent and credible elections as well as strengthen democracy in the sub-region. He stated that the three-day meeting, organised by ECONEC, began on March 27 in Cotonou. “It focused on constitutional and legal frameworks, civic and voter registration, register of voters, electoral logistics, results collation and transmission and technological innovations among others.” According to the chief press secretary, participants of the meeting discussed the need for member-states to prioritise the production of credible register of voters. Oyekanmi stated that participants also considered the application of technological innovations in the electoral process as a facilitator rather than a remedy for achieving credible elections. “The meeting implored member states to boost the capacity and training of electoral officials with the overall goal of engendering efficiency in the conduct of free, fair and credible elections across the sub-region. “Besides, the meeting called on security agencies across the member countries to always remain neutral and respect the rights of citizens in the discharge of their sacred duty of safeguarding electoral processes. “The participants also called on member states to recognise the contributions of key stakeholders and continually engage them to deepen confidence and trust in the electoral processes.’’ He stated that stakeholders at the meeting included Civil Society Organisations, Peace Councils, Community Based Organisations, traditional and religious leaders, as well as the media. Others were Chairpersons, Vice Chairpersons and Members of Electoral Management Bodies, representatives of ECOWAS, and National Parliaments and ministries in charge of elections in member-states. ECOWAS was established in 1975 to foster economic integration among member states. The regional body has since 1990 expanded its focus to include the pursuit of political integration in the sub-region.Following the review of electoral processes, the Electoral Assistance Division (EAD) was set up within the ECOWAS Commission in 2006 to organise and coordinate the organisation’s electoral support to member states. ECONEC was created to promote credible elections and good practices among member states.
President Buhari cancels medical trip to UK.
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. NAIJ.com 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. 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".
DSS arrests, detains Ifeanyi Ubah.
There are reports that operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS) have arrested and detained Ifeanyi Uba, the owner of Capital Oil. According to Sahara Reporters, Ubah was implicated in a corruption incident involving the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation. It was reported that the Capital Oil owner was accused of “embezzling funds from an illegal sale of crude oil saved in his facility.”
Wednesday, 29 March 2017
Former Leicester City manager Claudio Ranieri still shocked by his sacking
Claudio Ranieri (Getty Images)
The Italian manager who the led the Foxes to a fairytale title win says he is still shocked after the club axed him last month.Former Leicester City manager Claudio Ranieri, who defied 5000-1 odds to lead the team to a fairytale Premier League title in 2016, has said he is still stunned by his sacking last month. The 65-year-old Italian lost his job after a nine-game losing streak that left the club hanging one point above the relegation zone. Since his departure, Leicester have won all four of their matches to move six points above the bottom three and reached Europe's Champions League quarter-finals.
"Thinking of Leicester the first thing that comes to mind is the sense of surprise more than bitterness. The biggest thing is I'm just a coach who has had the joy of winning a championship with a fantastic adventure and then to experience the sorrow of what happened next. I had been through a lot in my long career, but never anything like this. It was a shock. Even if in the end, these things are part of football," British media quoted Ranieri as saying at an event in Rome on Tuesday.
Ranieri has rejected offers from Italian team Citta di Palermo and German side VfL Wolfsburg, as well as offers from Chinese and Dubai teams in the past few weeks, with the hopes of making a swift return to England's top-flight, according to the Times.
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