Thursday 2 February 2017
Violence Hits Nagaland: Government Offices, Vehicles Torched Over Local Body Polls
Over a thousand Naga tribals have set fire to the Kohima Municipal Council office and the office of the Directorate of Transport to protest against Chief Minister TR Zeliang's refusal to meet their ultimatum: resign by 4 pm. As night fell on Nagaland's capital city, tension was high as mobs went on a rampage, burning and vandalising government property and cars. The Central paramilitary forces have been deployed at the New Secretariat building.
Since 10 am, thousands of protesters gathered at the old MLA Hostel road at the heart of the town carrying the bodies of the two people who were killed in police firing on Tuesday night in Dimapur. The police had allegedly opened fire to stop a mob from throwing stones at the house of the Chief Minister.
The protesters want 33% reservation for women in civic polls to be rolled back. They believe it is a violation of the right granted to Naga tribals as per the Constitution's article 371(A).
The protestors, all members of Naga tribal groups, want the Chief Minister and his cabinet to resign. They want the Governor to come and talk to them, but PB Acharya was in Itanagar this afternoon. The protesters also want the suspension of all policemen involved in the firing at Dimapur on Tuesday.
Friday 27 January 2017
Breaking News: Trump acting on his promised
If the Trump campaign had one signature line—one yuge line—it was that we’re going to build a wall.
Yesterday, President Trump signed an executive order to begin construction of a wall along the Mexican border.
That doesn’t mean Congress will pay for the estimated $14-billion cost or that opponents won’t mount arguments that the wall will have limited impact and isn’t worth the expense. But Trump did what he said he was going to do.
White House officials also leaked word that Trump will temporarily bar immigrants from seven terror-plagued countries where Muslims are a majority (Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen). The idea is to call a halt until tougher visa restrictions are in place. This was the modification of Trump’s original campaign pledge that all Muslim immigrants would be temporarily barred. He struck an emotional chord by recognizing, in the audience at Homeland Security, families who had a loved one killed by an illegal immigrant.
What’s striking about this is that each of these proposals caused a media and political uproar during the campaign. The wall was widely mocked, especially the part about making Mexico pay for it. (Trump told ABC’s David Muir that Mexico will indeed pay, perhaps in “complicated” form, and that construction will begin in months.) And some pundits essentially declared Trump’s campaign over when he announced the Muslim immigration ban.
There was also a theory during the campaign—sometimes voiced by his supporters—that Trump throws out a lot of wild ideas but he won’t actually do this stuff if he somehow wins the White House. Uh, no.
Whether these are good or bad ideas—he also signed an order to carry out his promised crackdown on federal aid to sanctuary cities—President Trump is delivering on what candidate Trump said he would do. And with a Supreme Court nominee coming next week, he’s off to a fast start.
At the same time, there have been all these distractions, some of them self-inflicted. Topping the list is Trump’s insistence that up to 5 million people voted illegally in the election, for which he has no evidence. Trump doubled down yesterday by asking for an investigation, which will undoubtedly find outdated and duplicate voter rolls in many states—but that doesn’t necessarily translate into massive voter fraud.
As a front-page Washington Post story put it, “Donald Trump, having propelled his presidential campaign to victory while often disregarding the truth, now is testing the proposition that he can govern the country that way.”
This reminds me of what happened when scandals erupted during Bill Clinton’s presidency, even before his lying about the Monica Lewinsky fiasco led to his impeachment. The media would obsess on each scandalous twist and turn, but a majority of the public remained focused on his proposals (school uniforms, V-chips for TV) and the booming economy, keeping his popularity high.
The country remains deeply divided over this president, but no one can deny that he has hit the ground running on the kinds of issues that resonate with ordinary voters.
As if he didn’t have enough on his plate, the president apparently reacted to an “O’Reilly Factor” segment on Tuesday night. Bill said that “in the first 23 days of this year, 42 homicides in the windy city, up 24 percent from last year. An unbelievable 228 people have been shot and Chicago in 23 days”—and asked whether Trump could step in and stop the murders.
Trump quickly tweeted, using a word from his inaugural: “If Chicago doesn't fix the horrible "carnage" going on, 228 shootings in 2017 with 42 killings (up 24% from 2016), I will send in the Feds!”
Even the left-leaning Atlantic says, “What if the Trump presidency is actually off to a surprisingly effective start? For months, Trump has shown a perverse ability to overshadow his own message with chaos and disorder, and the first five days of his administration fit right into that pattern…
“It doesn’t require any alternative facts, only an alternative interpretation, to look at the Trump administration and see a presidency moving forward on many of its key goals and notching political victories.”
There’s plenty of heavy lifting ahead, but Trump hasn’t even been in office a week.
Oh, and the Dow topped 20,000 yesterday.
That doesn’t mean Congress will pay for the estimated $14-billion cost or that opponents won’t mount arguments that the wall will have limited impact and isn’t worth the expense. But Trump did what he said he was going to do.
White House officials also leaked word that Trump will temporarily bar immigrants from seven terror-plagued countries where Muslims are a majority (Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen). The idea is to call a halt until tougher visa restrictions are in place. This was the modification of Trump’s original campaign pledge that all Muslim immigrants would be temporarily barred. He struck an emotional chord by recognizing, in the audience at Homeland Security, families who had a loved one killed by an illegal immigrant.
What’s striking about this is that each of these proposals caused a media and political uproar during the campaign. The wall was widely mocked, especially the part about making Mexico pay for it. (Trump told ABC’s David Muir that Mexico will indeed pay, perhaps in “complicated” form, and that construction will begin in months.) And some pundits essentially declared Trump’s campaign over when he announced the Muslim immigration ban.
There was also a theory during the campaign—sometimes voiced by his supporters—that Trump throws out a lot of wild ideas but he won’t actually do this stuff if he somehow wins the White House. Uh, no.
Whether these are good or bad ideas—he also signed an order to carry out his promised crackdown on federal aid to sanctuary cities—President Trump is delivering on what candidate Trump said he would do. And with a Supreme Court nominee coming next week, he’s off to a fast start.
At the same time, there have been all these distractions, some of them self-inflicted. Topping the list is Trump’s insistence that up to 5 million people voted illegally in the election, for which he has no evidence. Trump doubled down yesterday by asking for an investigation, which will undoubtedly find outdated and duplicate voter rolls in many states—but that doesn’t necessarily translate into massive voter fraud.
As a front-page Washington Post story put it, “Donald Trump, having propelled his presidential campaign to victory while often disregarding the truth, now is testing the proposition that he can govern the country that way.”
This reminds me of what happened when scandals erupted during Bill Clinton’s presidency, even before his lying about the Monica Lewinsky fiasco led to his impeachment. The media would obsess on each scandalous twist and turn, but a majority of the public remained focused on his proposals (school uniforms, V-chips for TV) and the booming economy, keeping his popularity high.
The country remains deeply divided over this president, but no one can deny that he has hit the ground running on the kinds of issues that resonate with ordinary voters.
As if he didn’t have enough on his plate, the president apparently reacted to an “O’Reilly Factor” segment on Tuesday night. Bill said that “in the first 23 days of this year, 42 homicides in the windy city, up 24 percent from last year. An unbelievable 228 people have been shot and Chicago in 23 days”—and asked whether Trump could step in and stop the murders.
Trump quickly tweeted, using a word from his inaugural: “If Chicago doesn't fix the horrible "carnage" going on, 228 shootings in 2017 with 42 killings (up 24% from 2016), I will send in the Feds!”
Even the left-leaning Atlantic says, “What if the Trump presidency is actually off to a surprisingly effective start? For months, Trump has shown a perverse ability to overshadow his own message with chaos and disorder, and the first five days of his administration fit right into that pattern…
“It doesn’t require any alternative facts, only an alternative interpretation, to look at the Trump administration and see a presidency moving forward on many of its key goals and notching political victories.”
There’s plenty of heavy lifting ahead, but Trump hasn’t even been in office a week.
Oh, and the Dow topped 20,000 yesterday.
over 15% of women in Ireland test positive for HPV DNA; concerns raised round vaccine uptake
A study shows that 15% of women in Ireland have tested positive for Human Papillomavirus (HPV) DNA.
Women under the age of 30 are significantly more likely to test positive for HPV. The virus is associated with around 5% of all cancers. Up to 90% of cervical cancers are associated with HPV.
CERVIVA is carrying out a study on 6,000 women to examine the role of HPV testing and associated cancers.
Interim results of the screening pilot will be heard at a symposium in Dublin today, which will provide important information to policy makers around HPV-based screening tests.
Assistant professor at Trinity College Cara Martin said the conference would address recent concerns around the HPV vaccine with respect to take-up and safety fears.
The families of 15,000 girls refused vaccinations against human papillomavirus in 2016.
Wednesday 25 January 2017
Gunmen attack Kaduna village, kill 13-years-old boy,gunmen-attack-kaduna-village-kill-13-years-old-boy.
Gunmen attack Kaduna village, kill 13-years-old boy -gunmen-attack-kaduna-village-kill-13-years-old-boy.
A 13-year-old boy Yahaya Musa was killed during a attack on Zankan village, a Fulani settlement in Kaura Local Government Area of Kaduna State.
According to Daily Trust the gunmen came to the village in an unidentified car around 8.30pm on Saturday and opened fire.
A resident who pleaded anonymity for fear of being attacked, said, “The gunmen came in a car and opened fire on residents of the village. They killed a 13-year-old boy and injured five others.”
In a related development, a resident of Zangon Kataf, Danjuma Musa has accused the locals in the area of stealing his N40, 000, his phone and taking the key of his motorcycle on Thursday.
He said, “I was passing by the Zangon Kataf General Hospital on my motorcycle when I saw a large crowd of Fulani women hanging around the hospital. I wanted to pass, but my mind told me to come back and find out if all was well. They said all was well, but as I was about getting on my motorcycle, I saw two Zangon Kataf youths that I knew, so I stopped and said hello only for them to ask me to come down from the motorcycle. They collected my valuables, including N40, 000, my phone, motorcycle key and ATM cards, after which they took me inside the hospital premises and threatened to kill me.”
He said a Civil Defence personnel intervened to secure his freedom but his belongings had not been returned by the boys.
When contacted, the Police Public Relations Officer, ASP Aliyu, Usman confirmed both incidents and said they were being investigated.
Wednesday 11 January 2017
diplomats in Cold War deja vu. As everybody, incl 
people, will be glad to see the last of this hapless Adm.
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