Trump, Merkel meet in Washington

US President Donald Trump has met with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Washington, discussing a range of issues from the alliance of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the crisis in Ukraine to the European policies regarding immigration and refugees.

During a meeting in the capital on Friday, Trump threw his full support behind the NATO alliance, however, complained that some member states were not contributing enough and defaulted on paying their dues.

"I reiterated to Chancellor Merkel my strong support for NATO as well as the need for our NATO allies to pay their fair share for the cost of defense," Trump told a joint press conference after the meeting. "Many nations owe vast sums of money from past years and it is very unfair to the United States. These nations must pay what they owe."

The US president thanked Merkel "for the German government's commitment to increase defense spending and work toward contributing at least 2 percent of GDP" to the NATO alliance.

The Ukrainian crisis
Trump and the German chancellor also agreed on the need for a "peaceful solution" to the conflict in Ukraine.

The US president expressed his appreciation for Merkel's counsel and partnership in efforts "to resolve the conflict in Ukraine, where we ideally seek a peaceful solution."

Merkel for his part said that, “There has to be a safe and secure solution for Ukraine, but relationship with Russia has to improve as well.”   

Immigration and refugees
At the Friday meeting, Trump referred to immigration as a topic on which Washington and Berlin have vastly different views, noting that the focus must be on national security.

“Immigration is a privilege, not a right, and the safety of our citizens must always come first,” he said, adding that the US will respect historic institutions and the “right of free people to manage their own destiny.”

The German chancellor stressed that close cooperation with the US on immigration issues should be based on "values of democracy, freedom, respect for the rule of law and human dignity, regardless of origin, skin color, religion, gender, sexual orientation or political belief."

The meeting between the two leaders was the first since Trump took the helm at the White House.

-PressTV

Fanta, Sprite, Coke safe : Health Ministry

Coca-Cola products, Fanta, Sprite and Coke manufactured in Nigeria are safe for consumption. the Federal Ministry of Health said  in Abuja on Friday.

The ministry gave the assurance after  a meeting summoned by the Minister, Prof. Isaac Adewole, to discuss  the recent judgment on the case filed by Fijabi Holdings against the Nigeria Bottling Company and NAFDAC.

Adewole explained that both benzoic acid and ascorbic acid (Vitamin C) were ingredients approved by International Food Safety regulators and used in many food and beverage products around the world.

“Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC) is the organisation established by Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) and World Health Organisation (WHO) to set internationally recognised standards, codes of practice, guidelines relating to foods, food production and food safety.

“In the case of benzoic acid, the standard set by Codex was 600mg/kg until recently reviewed to 250mg/kg and adopted in 2016.

“With reference to the Codex standard and other relevant documents, Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) in consultation with and relevant stakeholders elaborated the standard of benzoic acid in soft drinks to be at 250mg/kg based on the national climatic and storage conditions.

“This standard has been in existence since 1997 and revised in 2008, the levels of benzoic acid in Fanta (1 batch) and Sprite (2 batches) presented by the claimant in the court are 188.64mg/kg, 201.06mg/kg and 161.5mg/kg, respectively,” he said.

The minister stressed that the levels were in compliance with both the Codex and Nigeria Industrial Standards, stressing that the Coca-Cola products manufactured in Nigeria were safe for consumption in view of the following reasons:

“Risk assessment was conducted to ascertain maximum limits of food additives acceptable in foods. This takes into consideration the environmental, storage and distribution conditions as well as the shelf life of food products.

“NAFDAC and SON regularly monitor the manufacturing practices of food industries and conduct laboratory analysis to ascertain continuous compliance with required national standards.

“There was a routine inspection conducted at Nigeria Bottling Company by NAFDAC officers in December 2016, which was satisfactory.

“With reference to the Codex standards, each country or region is permitted to adapt a standard and limit based on country specific scientific evidence such as environmental, storage and distribution conditions,” he added.

Adewole noted that benzoic acid as a preservative prevents the growth of micro-organisms which thrive more at higher climatic temperatures like in Nigeria.

He said that due to the different environmental conditions obtainable in the UK, the standard for benzoic acid was set at a lower limit of 150mg/kg, while in Nigeria it was set at 250mg/kg even below that of Codex (as at time of production of that batch; Codex limit was 600mgkg).

Besides, the minister said that food products being imported into a country must comply with the relevant standards of the destination country.

“NAFDAC has processes in place to ensure products imported into the country are evaluated to ascertain compliance with required Nigeria Industrial Standards.’’

Adewole further said that the claimant did not obtain NAFDAC certification before export; otherwise, he would have been advised on the required standard of the destination country.

The minister advised Nigerians to take medicines with potable water as this would help to prevent unexpected drug-food interactions.

He added that all bottling companies are encouraged to insert advisory warnings on all products as necessary.

-NAN

UN: South Sudan government still buying arms despite famine

South Sudan's government is mainly to blame for famine in parts of the war-torn country, yet President Salva Kiir is still boosting his forces using millions of dollars from oil sales, according to a confidential United Nations report.

UN sanctions monitors said 97 percent of South Sudan's known revenue comes from oil sales, a significant portion of which is now forward oil sales, and that at least half of the budget - "likely substantially more" - is devoted to security.

"Revenue from forward oil sales totaled approximately $243 million between late March and late October 2016," the panel of UN monitors said in the report to the UN Security Council, seen by Reuters on Thursday.

"Despite the scale and scope of the political, humanitarian, and economic crises, the panel continues to uncover evidence of the ongoing procurement of weapons by the ... Government for the SPLA (South Sudanese army), the National Security Service, and other associated forces and militias," the report said.



The United Nations has declared a famine in some parts of the world's youngest country, where nearly half its population - some 5.5 million people - face food shortages. A civil war erupted in 2013 when Kiir, an ethnic Dinka, fired his deputy Riek Machar, a Nuer, who has fled and is now in South Africa.

The United Nations says at least one quarter of South Sudanese have been displaced since 2013.
South Sudan's government rejected the report on Friday.

The annual report of the sanctions monitors to the 15-member Security Council comes ahead of a ministerial meeting of the body on South Sudan next Thursday, which is due to be chaired by British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson.

In December, the Security Council failed to adopt a US-drafted resolution to impose an arms embargo and further sanctions on South Sudan despite warnings by UN officials of a possible genocide. The UN monitors again recommended in their report that the council impose an arms embargo on South Sudan.

UN peacekeepers have been in South Sudan since 2011.


-Reuters

NAFDAC shuts down wine shops in Wuse market

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The National Agency for Food, Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has shut down some wine shops worth N100 million in Wuse market, Abuja, for selling fake and unregistered products.
Mr Shaba Mohammed, the Deputy Director, Investigation and Enforcement, NAFDAC, in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), said this on Friday in Abuja during an operation.

Mohammed led a team of NAFDAC officials on enforcement to the market in continuation of a renewed global anti-counterfeiting fight against counterfeits.

He warned that unwholesome food and beverages pose threat to human lives.

“This operation is being carried out in 60 countries of the world which includes Africa, America, Asia and Middle East.

“The operation is in continuation of a renewed global anti-counterfeiting fight against counterfeit, substandard, fake and unwholesome food and beverages in collaboration with Interpol and Europol,”Mohammed said.

He said that the raid was tagged “’Opson VI”.

Mohammed said that most of the items seized in the operation were mainly 100 per cent ethanol mixed with other additives and contaminants.

Some of the fake wine found in the market includes Chamdor, Toma, Valdepenas, J and W, and Charmat, among others.

He further explained that the contaminants cause damages ranging from affecting human brain, communication, inflammation of the liver and cancer.

He said that suspects arrested would be prosecuted to serve as deterrent to others.

Mohammed advised the general public to be watchful of food and beverages they purchase and consume on daily basis.

He urged Nigerians to purchase only products that carry NAFDAC registration numbers.
He also advised Nigerians to insist on obtaining payment receipts for any purchase made and to report any suspicious activities or illegal warehouses found in their vicinity.

-NAN

BE YOURSELF

We have tried so hard, so many times, to imitate the lives of others. We deny ourselves of the things that culminates into our make-up and we go for what society asks us to be. So many times we blight our lives and lose ourselves in between those deep dark tunnels of life; leaving us groping aimlessly at nothing.

There are many lives out there destined to be touched by your unique self. To think that it is such an arduous task trying to fit into another person's style, should put us off the process all the more.

There's the need to stop the self-murder, we 'need the need' to break free of those inferiorities that surrounds us daily. Why live a life that gets terminated almost before it starts?

And then we spend the last days chewing on the fingers of the 'had-I-knowns,' wishing and regretting we took the paths we did.

It's high time we stop the trepidation and enjoy our own company. The time is now to impassion the very persons we were wired to be.

If only we could just stop and have a rethink, if only we could just yield to our hearts; then we would stop living life as an accident.

   
                                                                                              No. 1 Heavenlies Estate
                                                                                                           Paradise Reserved Area,
                                                                                                            Off Golden Gates,
                                                                                                              Heavens State.
                                                                                                              14th March, 2017.
Dear God,

How do you do Father? How's home, Jesus and Father Abraham? How are the twenty four elders and all the angels? I believe no one stressed you up there today.

I wrote just to thank you for the bounties you sent through the angels to me, I was awestruck by them all Dad. I also want to say thank you for the many pardons you granted me and everyone else all the time.

Dad, I miss and yearn to see your face. But am glad you kept to your promise to send your very spirit to keep me company. But still, I want you!

I must go now dad, regards to everyone, miss you sooooo much (sobs) and see you soon. Muah!
Yours sweetly,

Lush_Lawyer
(Daddy's best)

South Africa launches hate crime unit with Nigeria

South Africa says it will launch an "early warning" system with Nigeria to track and deter xenophobic attacks following a surge in violence in the rainbow nation.

South Africa's Foreign Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane said the new monitor would "help prevent violence" against foreigners and their businesses as she met with Geoffrey Onyeama, her Nigerian counterpart on Monday.

Last month, more than 20 shops were targeted in Atteridgeville, 120km west of Pretoria, while in Rosettenville, an area south of the commercial capital Johannesburg, residents attacked at least 12 houses.

In response to the violence, the Nigerian government called for the African Union to step in and stop the "xenophobic attacks", claiming 20 Nigerians were killed in South Africa last year.

South African authorities have declined to confirm the figure which may have been the result of other criminal activity, not just anti-immigrant violence.

Nkoana-Mashabane told reporters it was untrue that the attacks were specifically "targeting Nigerians", adding citizens of other countries were also affected.

She said the monitor would meet every three months and would be made up of representatives from both countries including immigration officials, business associations, and civil society groups.

'Mass attacks'

Onyeama said he had received assurances that Nigerians in South Africa would be able to live in peace and called for an end to "mass attacks".

According to the Nigerian Union in South Africa, there are about 800,000 Nigerians in the country, many of them living in Johannesburg.

A protest march against "migrant crime" was held in Pretoria on February 24 and resulted in violent clashes between crowds of young South African men and migrants from elsewhere in Africa, including Nigerians and Somalis.

Attacks against foreigners and foreign-run businesses have erupted regularly in recent years in South Africa, fuelled by the country's high unemployment and poverty levels.

President Jacob Zuma called for calm and restraint, saying that migrants should not be used as a scapegoat for the country's widespread crime problem.

-Aljazeera

California joins lawsuit challenging Trump’s latest travel Ban

The US state of California has become the seventh state to join a lawsuit challenging President Donald Trump’s revised travel ban.

On Monday, California Attorney General Xavier Becerra joined state attorneys in Washington, Maryland, New York, Oregon, Massachusetts and Minnesota in challenging the new order, according to the Los Angeles Times.

“Last month, our courts put a lid on the unconstitutional and un-American Trump Muslim travel ban because Americans stood up and demanded it,” Becerra said in a statement.

Furthermore, he said, “The victory for lawful permanent residents and current visa holders was welcome news for everyone, especially the victims’ families. But the fight for fair and lawful treatment of all who would seek permission to enter our country is not over."

The states asked James Robart, a US federal judge in Seattle who had ordered a temporary nationwide halt to the first controversial ban, to block the new order.

However, the Seattle judge has declined to immediately freeze the new executive order, saying that a formal complaint over the revised travel ban, which goes into effect March 16, needed to be filed before he can make a decision.

Hawaii was first to file a lawsuit against the revised travel ban, saying the executive order will harm the state’s Muslim population, foreign college students and tourist sector.

A hearing on the state’s request will be heard on Wednesday.

The new order maintains a 90-day ban on travel to the US by citizens of Iran, Syria, Libya, Yemen, Somalia and Sudan, but excludes Iraq and applies the restriction only to new visa applicants. It also removed an indefinite ban on Syrian refugees.

In his statement, Becerra said the order is still unconstitutional, despite the changes.

“The Trump administration may have changed the text of the now-discredited Muslim travel ban, but they didn’t change its unconstitutional intent and effect,” he said.

“It is still an attack on people — women and children, professors and business colleagues, seniors and civic leaders — based on their religion and national origin,” he added.

The Justice Department has argued that the new order “falls outside the scope” of the original injunction. Attorney General Jeff Sessions called the travel ban a lawful and proper exercise of presidential authority and vowed to enforce and defend it, adding that US attorneys who disagreed were welcome to leave.

-PressTV

Afghan forces free 32 detainees from Taliban prison in Helmand

Afghan security forces have launched an attack on a prison controlled by Taliban militants in the country’s restive south, freeing up to 32 detainees.

Afghanistan’s Defense Ministry said special forces stormed the Taliban-run prison in Nad Ali district in the southern troubled province of Helmand late on Sunday after gathering intelligence that the militants had been holding dozens of civilians and security personnel in captivity there.

Four of those freed were policemen and the rest were civilians, according to a statement by the ministry.

In a similar raid last May, Afghan special forces freed more than 60 prisoners held by Taliban in the same province, which has long been a stronghold of the militant group.

Over the past months, Afghan security forces have been busy foiling attacks by Taliban in Helmand and the northern city of Kunduz, the capital of a province with the same name.

Helmand has long been a stronghold of the group.

The militant group lost its grip over Afghanistan in the 2001 US-led military invasion, but security has not been delivered to the country despite the presence of foreign boots on Afghan soil.

-PressTV

Durban loses right to host 2022 Commonwealth Games

Durban has lost the right to host the 2022 Commonwealth Games, South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (SASCOC) president Gideon Sam told Reuters on Monday.

"This is a huge disappointment for us and for the whole African continent. But without the necessary government guarantees, we couldn’t move on," the Commonwealth Games Federation vice-president said by telephone.

"Everybody was very excited to see the Commonwealth Games staged in Durban, which was very well equipped to host the event, but once the economics started to play a role, it became difficult.

"We had hoped to make this a Games for all of Africa, and so this is a very sad day for the whole continent."

-Reuters