The Nation Newspaper

Tag: U.S

  • Ekweremadu selling off undeclared assets in U.S., London, says presidential panel

    THE Special Presidential Investigation Panel for the Recovery of Public Property (SPIPRPP) has accused Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu of engaging in clandestine sale of his assets in the United States (U.S.) in a purported bid to render useless the order of forfeiture being sought against him.

    The SPIPRPP made the allegation in a counter-affidavit it filed on March 26, 2018 and deposed to by Yohanna Shankuk of the law firm of Festus Keyamo (SAN).

    The panel had recently applied ex-parte to the Federal High Court, Abuja for an interim forfeiture order on some 22 property allegedly owned by Ekweremadu in Nigeria and abroad, but which he allegedly refused to declare.

    Rather than allow the court hear and decide the ex-parte application, Ekweremadu challenged the court’s jurisdiction, claiming among others, that the SPIPRPP was an illegitimate body.

    The panel, in responding to Ekweremadu, filed a counter affidavit, in which it claimed that Ekweremadu, in a desperate bid to avoid forfeiting the properties, has already sold two of his three undeclared properties in Kissimmee, Florida, United States of America.

    It accused the deputy Senate president of employing delay tactics to frustrate the suit.

    The panel said the property, which were bought in 2008 for $200,000 each, were put on the market in January and sold for $150,000 to the same buyer on February 20 2018.

    It wants the court to restrain Ekweremadu from further selling the 22 property identified in the motion pending before it.

    It equally urged the court to grant its reliefs to enable the panel investigate and identify the alleged buyers.

    SPIPRPP’s move against Ekweremadu was said to have been informed by a petition by a retired judge, Justice Innocent  Umezulike.

    In the petition dated March 23,2018,  the retired judge alleged that he was moved by civic responsibility to lodge a complaint to the panel to the effect that the life style of Ekweremadu and the massive property he had acquired were not justified by his source of income.

    The judge urged the panel  to investigate him (Ekweremadu).

    Part of the petition reads: “In sum, from 1999 till date,  he has been in the realms of public office without any break to engage in any personal business.

    “Thus, his emoluments in the past 18 years are easily ascertainable from revenue mobilisation allocation and fiscal commission.

    “Prior to his entry into public office in 1999, he was not a successful lawyer,  he lived in the dirt of high density suburb of Enugu at No:17, Mike Ejeagha Street, Abakpa -Nike, Enugu.

    “Curiously, in a space of 18 years, the suspect has amassed and stashed billions of naira in cash and choice properties strewn in major cities in four continents of the world.”

    He added that the cash is locked up in the vault of two banks.

    The judge to who the case is assigned at the Federal High Court, Abuja could not conduct any proceedings in the case yesterday.

    Justice Binta Nyako adjourned to June 5 for hearing.

     

  • Iran’s LNG exports jump as China, U.S. lock horns

    Iran’s National Gas Company is intent on raising the country’s share in the global gas trade as the Islamic Republic is shifting its focus to international markets.

    Iranian liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports reportedly rose to around 500,000 metric tons in April as this month’s shipments were 14 percent up from last month’s figure, to bring this year’s total shipments to 1.86 million metric tons.

    According to shipping sources, cited by Iranian media, most of the April cargoes are again bound for China.

    China’s Oriental Energy Company (OE), loaded 34,000 tons of propane and 14,000 tons of butane supplied by Iranian Gas Commercial Co., aboard an LNG tanker at Iran’s Gulf port of Assaluyeh, which is scheduled to arrive at China’s Qinzhou on Wednesday.

    Another ship is due to bring 33,000 tons of propane and 11,000 tons of butane to Ningbo on May 12.

    The shipments of Iranian natural gas come as OE was recently ordered by a Texas state district court to pay $523.8 million in damages to Germany’s Mabanaft following an LPG contract dispute.

    The court ruled that OE had breached its contract by failing to provide a letter of credit ahead of its first scheduled shipment of propane from the US Gulf.

    Beijing also plans a hefty, 25-percent increase in import duties on US propane in a retaliatory move which, if implemented, would add a new twist to the US-China trade war. This could shift China’s import focus to the Middle East, including Iran.

    In the meantime, Iran is pressing ahead with its natural gas shipments to Indonesia, with 33,000 tons of propane and 11,000 tons of butane arriving in the country on April 19.

    A shipment of 44,000 tons of propane and butane is due to arrive on Wednesday and another 45,000 tons are slated to arrive at the Indonesian port of Tanjung later this week.

    Other destinations for Iranian gas exports are India, Thailand and possibly Kenya.

  • U.S. University closed after 100 students fall ill

    A university in the U.S. state of Connecticut was closed on Monday after 100 students fell ill.

    The affected students at Western Connecticut State University in Danbury were suffering from vomiting, diarrhoea and stomach pains.

    University President, John Clark, said in a statement on Monday that crews would be working to sanitise and disinfect two campuses.

    He added that the university authority would ensure that the institution was safe and secure for all before reopening.

    Clark said the decision to shut the university was the best and most conservative course of action to protect the community from infection and spread of the disease.”

    He urged students to return home to curb the spread of the infection and advised those unable to go to stay in their rooms.

    They were also alerted to seek emergency attention if they suffered from dehydration, dizziness, dry mouth, headaches and muscle cramps.

    No further information was provided on the nature of the infection.

    dpa/NAN

  • U.S. to deliver 12 war jets to Nigeria

    The United States will in 2020 deliver the 12 Super Tucano fighter jets and other weapons it agreed to sell to Nigeria to combat Boko Haram insurgents and other extremist groups.

    A senior U.S. Department of State official stated this yesterday during a background briefing at the U.S. Consul General’s Residence in Ikoyi, Lagos.

    The official, who confirmed that the Nigerian government had paid for the war planes, said sale of the aircraft with weapons and services worth over 400 million dollars included bombs and rockets.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) learnt that the propeller-driven plane with reconnaissance, surveillance and attack capabilities is made by Brazil’s Embraer.

    Embraer’s second production line is in Florida in a partnership between Embraer and privately held Sierra Nevada Corp of Sparks, Nevada.

    The Super Tucano is said to cost more than 10 million dollars each and the price could go much higher depending on the configuration. It is powered by a Pratt & Whitney Canada PT 6 engine.

    On the planned visit by President Muhammadu Buhari to the White House on April 30, the official said the Nigerian leader would be the first African president to meet U.S. President Donald Trump.

    “We are excited about the planned visit by President Buhari as the first African leader to be engaged by President Donald Trump at the White House.

    “The most important is that it is in Washington. It will be a very high level meeting; it will help the U.S. to also understand Nigeria’s projection.”

     

    “There will be independent conversation on security, governance, the Lake Chad Basin and Nigeria’s role as a democratic leader in the region,’’ the U.S. government official said.

     

    Commenting on Nigeria’s 2019 general elections, the official said: “U.S. will remain non-partisan as it had the commitment to continue to support Nigeria’s elections.

     

    “Will continue to help Nigeria’s security agencies to build capacity, not only in Nigeria but other countries in Africa,’’ the senior U.S Department of State official said.

  • U.S. to review consular operations in Nigeria

    UNITED States (U.S.) Assistant Secretary of State for Consular Affairs Carl Risch will this week arrive in Nigeria to review consular operations at the American Consulate in Lagos.

    The U.S. Department of State said Risch would travel to Nigeria, Morocco and Ethiopia from April 15 to 21.

    The Department said: “The Assistant Secretary plans to review consular operations at our U.S. Consulates General in Casablanca and Lagos and our U.S. Embassy in Addis Ababa.

    “He will also meet with interagency partners.

    “The United States is committed to long-term engagement with Morocco, Nigeria and Ethiopia on a variety of consular issues.

    “This includes efficient and equitable visa processing, protecting U.S. citizens overseas, working together on intercountry adoptions and preventing and resolving international parent child abduction cases”.

    The Department said while in Morocco and Ethiopia, Risch would meet with counterparts to discuss a range of consular issues.

    These include international legal obligations to accept the return of nationals, who have been ordered removed and children’s issues, the Department said.

     

  • Trump: We are not in trade war with China

    President Donald Trump tweeted that the U.S. was not in “a trade war with China,’’ hours after Beijing announced tariff hikes on 50 billion dollars worth of U.S. products.

    “We are not in a trade war with China, that war was lost many years ago by the foolish, or incompetent people, who represented the U.S.,” Trump said.

    Beijing’s announcement followed Washington’s publishing of a list of 50 billion dollars worth of Chinese imports that could be subject to punitive tariffs.

    “Now, we have a trade deficit of 500 billion dollars a year, with Intellectual Property Theft of another 300 billion dollars. We cannot let this continue!” Trump tweeted.

    Also China hit back on Wednesday at the Trump administration’s plan to slap tariffs on 50 billion dollars in Chinese goods, retaliating with a list of similar duties on key U.S. imports including soybeans, planes, cars, whiskey and chemicals.

    Beijing’s list of 25 per cent additional tariffs on U.S. goods covers 106 items with a trade value matching the 50 billion dollars targeted on Washington’s list, China’s commerce and finance ministries said.

    The effective date will depend on when the U.S. action takes effect.

    The announcement triggered further heavy selling in global stock markets and commodities, with U.S. stock futures sliding 1.5 per cent, soybean futures plunging 3.7 per cent and the dollar briefly extending early losses.

    Hours earlier, the U.S. government unveiled a detailed breakdown of some 1,300 Chinese industrial, transport and medical goods that could be subject to 25 per cent duties, ranging from light-emitting diodes to chemicals and machine parts.

    Washington’s move, broadly flagged in March, is aimed at forcing Beijing to address what Washington says is deeply entrenched theft of U.S. intellectual property and forced technology transfer from U.S. companies to Chinese competitors, charges Chinese officials deny.

    Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman, Geng Shuang, said China had shown sincerity in wanting to resolve the trade dispute through negotiations.

    “But the best opportunities for resolving the issues through dialogue and negotiations have been repeatedly missed by the U.S. side,” he told a regular briefing on Wednesday.

    “We regret that soybeans are on the list. We have done everything to prevent this from happening, but we are still calling for a resolution,” said Zhang Xiaoping, China Director of the U.S. Soybean Export Council said.

    dpa/NAN

  • Russia to retaliate as U.S., EU, Canada others expel envoys

    Moscow will retaliate against a series of expulsions of Russian diplomats from European countries and response with regard to each case, a source in the Russian Foreign Ministry told Sputnik on Monday.

    “There will be a mirror-like response. We will work it out in the coming days and give our response with regard to each country,” the source said.

    The European Council President Donald Tusk announced that 14 EU member states decided to expel Russian diplomats over the poisoning of former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal in the UK.

    The U. S. also expelled 60 Russian diplomats in a coordinated response to the poisoning of former double agent.

    The U.S. also ordered the closure of Moscow’s consulate in Seattle.

    Russian President Vladimir Putin has adamantly denied any Russian state involvement in the incident.

    The former spy, Sergei Skripal, 66, and his daughter Yulia, 33, are in hospital in critical condition after being found unconscious on a bench in the southern English city of Salisbury.

    The elder Skripal was convicted of selling Russian state secrets to Britain in 2006 and was traded to Britain in a high-profile spy swap four years later.

    British authorities have said the Skripals were attacked with a Russian-developed nerve toxin identified as Novichok

    Canada is expelling four Russian diplomats over the poisoning of an ex-spy in Salisbury, U.K., prompting harsh condemnation and the threat of retaliation from Russia.

    Canada’s action will cover seven Russian personnel in all, including four members of Russia’s diplomatic staff posted at the Embassy of the Russian Federation in Ottawa or the consulate in Montreal.

    “The four have been identified as intelligence officers or individuals who have used their diplomatic status to undermine Canada’s security or interfere in our democracy,” Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland said in a statement.

    As well, three applications by the Russian government for additional diplomatic staff in Canada will now be denied.

    Freeland called the March 4 nerve agent attack on a close ally and partner of Canada “a despicable, heinous and reckless act” that potentially endangered the lives of hundreds.

    The steps have been taken pursuant to the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations and to the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, she said.

    The UK announced it was expelling 23 Russian diplomats earlier this month.

    Various countries announced they were making the same move in solidarity on Monday. These are:

    EU countries: France (4); Germany (4); Poland (4); Czech Republic (3); Lithuania (3); Denmark (2); Netherlands (2); Italy (2); Spain (2); Estonia (1); Croatia (1); Finland (1); Hungary (1); Latvia (1); Romania (1); Sweden (1)

    Ukraine: 13

    Albania: 2

    Norway: 1

    Macedonia: 1

    Iceland has also announced it is suspending high-level dialogue with Russian authorities, and its leaders will not attend the World Cup, which starts in Russia in June

  • U.S: growth unsustainable without women

    The United States (U.S.) government yesterday said there can never be any meaningful and sustainable economic growth and development without the inclusion of women.

    It therefore called for a an inclusive particptaion of women in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields in the country.

    Its Consul-General in Nigeria, John Bray, spoke during a forum tagged: TechWomen Mentoring Programme for Nigerian Female STEM Leaders anchored by a 16-member delegation of senior tech executives and professionals from the Silicon Valley. The group promotes STEM education and technology in the U.S. He lamented that many young women who pursue studies in STEM at tertiary institutions share stories of being grossly outnumbered by men.

  • Facebook under pressure as U.S., EU call for probes into data practices

    British privacy regulators are seeking a warrant to search the offices of the political consultancy Cambridge Analytica, following reports that the company may have improperly gained access to data on 50 million Facebook users.

    The move came as U.S. and European lawmakers demanded an explanation of how the consulting firm, which worked on President Donald Trump’s election campaign, gained access to the data.

    In the U.S., members of Congress called on Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg to testify about Facebook’s actions.

    Facebook said on Monday it had hired forensic auditors from the firm Stroz Friedberg to investigate and determine whether Cambridge Analytica still had the data.

    “Auditors from Stroz Friedberg were on site at Cambridge Analytica’s London office this evening,” the company said in a statement late Monday.

    “At the request of the UK Information Commissioner’s Office, which has announced it is pursuing a warrant to conduct its own on-site investigation, the Stroz Friedberg auditors stood down.”

    Facebook shares closed down nearly 7.0 per cent on Monday, wiping nearly $40 billion off its market value as investors worried that new legislation could damage the company’s advertising business.

    “The lid is being opened on the black box of Facebook data practices, and the picture is not pretty,” said Frank Pasquale, a University of Maryland law professor who has written about Silicon Valley’s use of data.

    Also on Monday, a source said that Facebook head of security, Alex Stamos, plans to leave the company over disagreements about the company’s policies on misinformation.

    He had been a strong advocate for an aggressive approach to alleged Russian activity on the platform aimed at manipulating elections.

    His departure was first reported by the New York Times. Facebook declined immediate comment.

    In a tweet, Stamos did not deny he was leaving but said: “Despite the rumors, I’m still fully engaged with my work at Facebook. It’s true that my role did change.”

    The criticism of Cambridge Analytica presents a new threat to Facebook’s reputation, which is already under attack over Russia’s alleged use of Facebook tools to sway U.S. voters with divisive and false news posts before and after the 2016 election.

    London-based Cambridge Analytica said it strongly denied the media claims, and that it deleted all Facebook data it obtained from a third-party application in 2014 after learning the information did not adhere to data protection rules.

    However, further allegations about the firm’s tactics were reported late Monday by British broadcaster Channel 4 which said it secretly taped interviews with senior Cambridge Analytica executives in which they boasted of their ability to sway elections in countries around the world with digital manipulation and traditional political trickery.

    Cambridge Analytica rejected the allegations, saying in a statement that the Channel 4 report “is edited and scripted to grossly misrepresent the nature of those conversations and how the company conducts its business.”

    Facebook was already facing calls on Saturday for regulation from the U.S. Congress after the reports in the New York Times and London’s Observer over the weekend.

    Republican Senator John Kennedy called on Zuckerberg to testify before Congress, and Democratic Senator Ron Widen sent a letter to Zuckerberg asking about company policies for sharing user data with third parties.

    Facebook usually sends lawyers to testify to Congress, or allows trade organizations to represent it and other technology companies in front of lawmakers.

    Facebook and other social media companies including Twitter Inc and Alphabet Inc’s YouTube have taken voluntary steps to restrict possible foreign interference and combat false news, but they have not been forced by law or regulation to make changes and legislation on the issue has stalled.

    Late on Monday, the Connecticut Attorney General said the office will initiate an inquiry into Facebook data policies.

    The Senate was expected to move forward on Monday with a bill that would chip away at the internet industry’s legal shield, a decades-old law known as Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, with a bill intended to address online sex trafficking.

    The measure has already passed the House and is expected to soon become law.

    Reuters/NAN

  • EU chief urges Trump to ‘make trade, not war’

    EU Council President Donald Tusk has urged the U.S. to resume trade talks amid a looming trade conflict between the two trading blocs.

    “Make trade, not war, Mr President,” Tusk said on Wednesday, addressing U.S. President Donald Trump following talks in the Finnish capital of Helsinki with Prime Minister, Juha Sipila.

    On March 8, Trump declared global tariffs of 25 per cent on imported steel and 10 per cent on aluminium with exemptions for Canada and Mexico and potential flexibility for others, triggering a wave of international condemnation and stoking fears of a trade war.

    The U.S. president defended the decision on Wednesday, tweeting: “We cannot keep a blind eye to the rampant unfair trade practices against our country!”

    Tusk said the U.S. president’s proposal “is a bad sign for transatlantic relations” and underlined the need to “go back to EU-U.S. trade talks now.”

    The EU has mentioned it could introduce counter-tariffs on U.S. products including bourbon, Harley Davidson motorcycles and Levi’s jeans.

    “When the president complains of too many tariffs between the EU and the U.S., I can understand him. We are not happy either,” Tusk said.

    Tusk reminded of historic ties between Europe and the U.S., and noted that Trump has said “real friends will be excluded from the proposed measures.’’

    “I would like to stress today that the free world has survived the most difficult decades only thanks to the fact that Europeans and Americans have been real friends, so let us cherish this friendship, not challenge it,” he added.

    dpa/NAN