Category Archives: International

Nigeria: One-Religion Ticket Can Win

Posted on by

Opinion By Mahmud Jega, 28 April 2014

There are 26 political parties in Nigeria today, so there will be several Muslim and several Christian presidential candidates. It depends therefore on whose vote is split the most.

nigeriaThe political actors and newspaper columnists who rushed in the last two weeks to say that a presidential election ticket made up of two adherents of the same religion cannot win in Nigeria have not thought about this matter very carefully. Ordinarily I wouldn’t have written about religion and politics because I, for one, will not cast a vote for or against anyone on religious grounds. However, I am intellectually provoked by the firm assertion of some commentators that a one-religion ticket cannot win an election in Nigeria. It can, under some circumstances.

The flurry of commentaries was sparked off by a newspaper story which said the opposition APC is planning to field what in Nigerian politics is called a “Muslim-Muslim” ticket in 2015, i.e. General Muhammadu Buhari and Asiwaju Bola Tinubu. “Religious balancing” is a very sensitive matter in Nigerian politics. It is taken for granted that the presidential ticket of every major political party must include one adherent each of the two major religions. Given this sensitivity, I was personally amazed that APC did not vigorously deny the story. Its tepid response allowed Femi Fani-Kayode, for one, to say that APC is trying to promote one religion over another. Some other commentators worsened matters by saying there is nothing wrong with a Muslim-Muslim ticket. Well, I am not saying it is a good thing or a bad thing. All I am saying is that in theory such a ticket or its obverse, a Christian-Christian ticket, can win an election in Nigeria.

The first reason for saying a one-religion ticket can win an election in Nigeria is because it has happened before. Usually, the best evidence that something can happen is if has happened before. Many Nigerians appear to believe that this scenario will not happen precisely because it happened before. Soon after the ill-fated June 12, 1993 election, the Christian Association of Nigeria [CAN] did say that it would not condone a Muslim-Muslim ticket again. It did not however say if it will tolerate a Christian-Christian ticket. No one can say for sure that the extraordinary combination of circumstances that produced the Abiola-Kingibe ticket in 1993 will never happen again in Nigeria.

Read more at All Africa

UK politician arrested after making speech quoting Winston Churchill views on Islam

Posted on by

Paul+Weston3
A candidate in the European elections has been arrested after making a speech quoting from a book by Winston Churchill about Islam.

Paul Weston, chairman of the party Liberty GB, was making the speech on the steps of Winchester Guildhall, Hampshire, on Saturday, when a member of the public complained to police and he was arrested.

He had been reading from Churchill’s book The River War, written in 1899 while he was a British army officer in Sudan.

The candidate in the South East European elections on May 22 was detained after he failed to comply with a request by police to move on under the powers of a dispersal order made against him and he was arrested on suspicion of religious/racial harassment.

Read more at the Independent

American Pastor Saeed Writes Easter Message as a Prisoner in the Darkness of Iran

Posted on by

599720_3635754732117_655290680_n
American Pastor Saeed Abedini wrote the following Easter message from his hospital room serving an eight year sentence for his Christian faith in Iran.

Read the message at the American Center for Law and Justice blog.

Secret Location of ‘King David’s Castle’ to be Revealed

Posted on by

A major archaeological find points to a Davidic royal castle in Nahal Refaim. Location was secret, until now.

img472277The location of a major archaeological find that was kept secret until now will be revealed to the public on Friday, next week. The find is being touted as a royal castle that could have belonged to Israel’s most celebrated king – the Bible’s King David.

The find is a decorated carved stone known as “a proto-aeolic capital” that is connected to a column. Only 30 such capitals have been found in Israel so far, and only five of them were found in areas in which Biblical-era kings lived.

Unlike all of the other proto-aeolic capitals found in Israel – this one is not separate from the column but connected to it. The weight of the column and capital are estimated to be about five tons.

“For reasons that are not completely clear,” wrote newspaper Makor Rishon when the find was first announced, “several authorities in Israel have decided to silence the find, which may mark a breakthrough in the perception of the period of King David and his son, Shlomo [Solomon], and of the entire Judean kingdom.”

Read more at Arutz Sheva 7

India disappointed with new Russian stealth fighter

Posted on by

Sukhoy1
India is reportedly disappointed with the result of a fighter program between the Indian Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) and Russian Rosoboronexport and Sukhoi announced in December of 2010.

The initial press release indicated that the proposed Fifth Generation Fighter:

…will have advanced features such as stealth, supercruise, ultra-maneuvrability, highly integrated avionics suite, enhanced situational awareness, internal carriage of weapons and Network Centric Warfare capabilities.

After delivery of the prototype, however, FOX News reports:

The Russian prototype is “unreliable, its radar inadequate, its stealth features badly engineered,” said Indian Air Force Deputy Air Marshall S Sukumar at a Jan. 15 meeting, according to minutes obtained by the Business Standard.

The Indian government, the largest importer of arms according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, routinely buys from Russia and the west. The U.S., however, has so far refused to provide the advanced Lockheed Martin F-35 fighter. Some defense experts indicate that the Indian Air Force may not be currently ready for the F-35 according to the FOX article.

Defense consultant Robbin Blair indicated that the Air Force of India may be leaning toward the French-designed Dassault Rafale fighter jets depending on what the French add to the aircraft.

This plane is quickly built and apparently tests better than the Russian prototype.

Somali militant killed in missile attack

Posted on by

us-forces-launch-missile-strike MOGADISHU, Somalia — A member of Somali rebel group al-Shabab was killed Sunday by a missile fired by a suspected drone, a rebel commander said, blaming the U.S. for the strike.

Abu Mohamed told The Associated Press that Sahal Iskudhuq, a militant commander who was believed to be close to al-Shabab’s top leader, was killed when his car was hit by a missile in Somalia’s Lower Shabelle region. The attack took place in a village called Hawai, he said.

A Somali intelligence official confirmed the attack, describing the victim as a “dangerous” militant. His driver was also killed in the attack, the official said on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to reveal the information.

Mohamed blamed the attack on the U.S., which flies drones over Somalia that occasionally fire at one of al-Shabab’s top leaders.

Read more here at Miami Herald

Enticement, harassment charges dropped against foreign military officers

Posted on by

AR-140118772.jpg&MaxW=650
Two foreign military officers who were training at Fort Leonard Wood and charged in October of last year with enticement of a child and harassment had their charges dropped, Pulaski County Prosecuting attorney Kevin Hillman said Friday.

WAYNESVILLE, Mo.—Two foreign military officers who were training at Fort Leonard Wood and charged in October of last year with enticement of a child and harassment had their charges dropped, Pulaski County Prosecuting attorney Kevin Hillman said Friday.

“The victim’s family and I discussed the situation, and they did not want her to go through the further traumatization of two trials,” Hillman said.

The two foreign officers charged were Mohammed Mahmoud Omar Mefleh, of Jordan, and Antoine Chela, of Lebanon.

Hillman said the pair had the charges dropped as part of an agreement which required them to remain in jail for 90 days and pay for their incarceration costs, which were over $3,000 each.

“Right after the charges were dropped, the men were taken by Fort Leonard Wood officials and have to leave the country within 10 days. I expect them to be gone by Monday,” Hillman said.

“They can have no contact with minors and will not be allowed back in the country. The Department of Homeland Security will be tracking and monitoring the men until they leave the country.”

Read more at TheRollaDailyNews.com

See Also:
1. Grand Jury indicts two foreign military officers for attempted child abduction
2. Foreign military officers plead not guilty in attempted child abduction case
3. Two men arrested for attempted child abduction

CONFIRMED: The DEA Struck A Deal With Mexico’s Most Notorious Drug Cartel

Posted on by

"El Vicentillo" being presented to the media in Mexico City on March 19, 2009.

“El Vicentillo” being presented to the media in Mexico City on March 19, 2009.

An investigation by El Universal found that between the years 2000 and 2012, the U.S. government had an arrangement with Mexico’s Sinaloa drug cartel that allowed the organization to smuggle billions of dollars of drugs while Sinaloa provided information on rival cartels.

Sinaloa, led by Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, supplies 80% of the drugs entering the Chicago area and has a presence in cities across the U.S.

There have long been allegations that Guzman, considered to be “the world’s most powerful drug trafficker,” coordinates with American authorities.

But the El Universal investigation is the first to publish court documents that include corroborating testimony from a DEA agent and a Justice Department official.

Read more at Business Insider

Afghan risks US fury over ‘Taliban’ prisoner releases

Posted on by

_72182267_72182266Afghanistan will release scores of prisoners considered by the US to be a security threat because there is insufficient evidence against them, President Hamid Karzai’s office says.

A statement said there was not enough evidence against 72 out of 88 prisoners previously held by the US.

Correspondents say that the move will further strain relations with the US.

The two countries are at loggerheads over President Karzai’s refusal to sign a security deal with Washington.

The US is strongly opposed to the releases because it says the prisoners have been involved in the wounding or killing of US and Nato troops.

Hundreds of prisoners from Bagram jail have been freed since Kabul took over the running of the prison in March 2013.

The Afghan government says that there is no evidence against 45 out of 88 prisoners, while the evidence against a further 27 detainees is not enough to put them on trial.

Read more at BBC News

Eight fishermen found beheaded in boat in gruesome attack off the Philippines

Posted on by

058420-eight-fishermen-found-beheaded-at-sea
EIGHT fishermen including two boys have been shot and beheaded in a gruesome attack at sea off the troubled southern Philippines.

The victims were among a group of fishermen who went missing after being attacked in the Moro Gulf off Mindanao island on December 26, said regional police spokesman Ariel Huesca.

Five headless corpses were first found aboard a boat drifting at sea on Friday by police who had gone in search of the missing fishermen, said Senior Inspector Joel Lozano, police chief of the district where the boat was taken.

“When we further inspected the boat (on Saturday morning), we discovered more headless bodies beneath the floorboard…. In all, it contained eight bodies,” Inspector Lozano told reporters.

The corpses, including those of two boys aged about 12 and 14, were all decomposing, suggesting they were killed a few days earlier, he said.

Read more at News.Com.Au