FG suspends CBN from introducing N5,000 note

After a long battle between Nigerians, Federal government and the Central Bank of Nigeria, the presidency yesterday said it would back down on the planned introduction of N5,000 notes by the apex bank.
Spokesperson to president Goodluck Jonathan, Dr Reuben Abati who confirmed this in Abuja on Thursday said the move was to allow the Central Bank enlighten Nigerians on the currency reform.
He said, “The introduction of the new notes is being suspended for now to enable the CBN do more

A Simple Question? Is Truth on Trial

Hormisdas Nsengimana stands trial for genocide and crimes against humanity before the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda in Arusha, Tanzania.
During the 1994 genocide, Hormisdas was working as a priest and rector of a Catholic secondary school when some 800,000 Tutsi and moderate Hutus were slaughtered in the three-month massacre.

France will assist intervention in Mali: Says Defence Minister

French Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian made the announcement in Paris on Thursday, a day after West African ministers discussed the possible deployment of regional troops in northern Mali.

He said the initiative for military intervention would come from African states, saying "clearly, that is being developed."

S Korea fires warning shot at North's vessels

The South Korean navy has fired warning shots at North Korean fishing vessels that crossed their disputed Yellow Sea border, officials say.
An official with South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff told the Associated Press that no North Korean navy ships were involved in Friday's incident and the South Korean shots did not hit the fishing boats.
Officials said the North Korean boats retreated after the shots were fired.

World Braces for clash of cultures

With the publication of the profane pictures of the holy Prophet of Islam in Charlie Hebdo magazine, the West is consciously moving in a direction where chaos will dominate the international arena and a clash of cultures will inevitably run deeper for an indefinite period of time.

A simple Question? Can Iran wipe out Israel

Amid Israel’s stepped up war rhetoric against Iran, Iranian Defense Minister Brigadier General Ahmad Vahidi says the Islamic Republic has enhanced its defensive military capabilities to an extent that it can

Washington and Israel at logger heads over Iran

Washington has warned Israeli officials that an attack on Iran will likely cause Egypt and Jordan to annul their peace agreements with Israel.

According to the Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronot, the US has warned Israel that Egypt and Jordan, as sole Arab states that have signed peace treaties with Israel, would be under great pressure by their people to annul the agreements if Iran's nuclear facilities were attacked.

A simple Question? - Are Muslims being provoked

A French satirical magazine called Charlie Hebdo has published cartoons of Islam's Prophet Muhammad - a decision that could anger Muslims already furious about a recent anti-Islam video trailer.

The weekly magazine printed the images or caricatures on Wednesday. Muslims consider any representation of Prophet Muhammad offensive.

Prosecuting wall street

Four years ago on September 15, the New York investment bank Lehman Brothers declared bankruptcy and the financial collapse of 2008 began.
The economic meltdown wiped out more than $11bn of personal wealth in the US, threw millions out of work, and has already resulted in the foreclosure of more than 10 million homes.
Americans across the political spectrum believe that financial executives should have gone to jail for the practices that led to the collapse, but there have been no significant prosecutions.

Now we investigate why Wall Street has not been held accountable for crimes connected to the deepest recession since the Great Depression.

More trouble for Mitt Romney

Mitt Romney's campaign is in trouble. His off the cuff comments to a private gathering of very rich people have been very damaging, to the extent some Republicans are privately saying that fifty days out from polling, the election campaign is over. That is premature, but there's no doubt Romney now has to steady his operation and quickly get it back on track.

The US media is concentrating on his comments dismissing 47 per cent of the electorate, or Obama supporters, as

PDP's renewed quest for South West

The storm is gathering in the South-west. It is in connection with the 2015 general election. Though the election is still some two years away, political gladiators in the area are already gearing up for battle.
The impending political showdown is for the political soul of the zone. The South-west is the stronghold of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN). Presently, the party controls five of the six states in the zone while the Labour Party (LP) controls one state. But recently, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) declared its intention to take over the zone in the next election.
Though the PDP controls the Federal Government and 24 governorship seats as well as majority of seats in the two chambers of the National Assembly, the ruling party has been unable to maintain a foothold in the

“Jonathan is a failure, he must be sacked” – According to House of reps

The stormy cloud of impeachment over President Goodluck Jonathan still seems not to be over. If one had thought that the hatchet between Mr. President and the members of House of Representative had long been buried, then one member of the house is yet to come to terms with that settlement.

“Stop chasing shadows, our nation is in decline” – David Mark tells Okonjo-Iweala

Senate President, David Mark, had yesterday blasted the presidency for compounding the problems of Nigerians by creating untold hardship for the people due to poor budget implementation.
Senator Mark made this statement  during his opening remarks after the senate returned from its 8 weeks recess. He had stated that President Jonathan and his economic team should go for robust economic policies that will take Nigeria out of the current economic crisis instead of just chasing after shadows and coursing more problems for the nation.

He said: “Those who manage the nation’s economy cannot afford to chase shadows while the economy is in the doldrums. What Nigerians expect, and deserve, is the introduction of fiscal and monetary policies that will create jobs, fix healthcare and infrastructure, and stimulate the economy.”

Global Islam vs the Western nation-state

In the recent wave of anti-Western demonstrations, political Islam has operated globally. The West's response has been mired in the local politics of its separate nation-states.But just how do relatively small militant groups drive events around the world in their preferred direction?