Cristiano Ronaldo and Real Madrid make 5yr old Orphan's dreams come true

Cristiano Ronaldo alongside some of his teammates at Real Madrid made the dream of a 5 year old orphan from Palestine come true. The parents and brother of 5 year old Ahmed Dawabshah were killed in a Palestine bomb attack 8 months ago.

Photos of Ahmed wearing a Real Madrid jersey carrying Ronaldo's picture while recuperating from 60 percent burns on his body flooded the internet.

Ahmed fought for his life straight after the incident, and asked 'where is my mother?' upon awakening. The whole incident touched officials at Real Madrid who together with Cristiano Ronaldo and the Palestine embassy organised a trip for Ahmed to the Santiago Bernabeu stadium to meet and spend time with his idol, Cristiano Ronaldo.

Jibril Rajoub, president of the Palestinian Football Association, added:

"This is a superb humanitarian gesture by Real Madrid, its administration and Cristiano Ronaldo, who are restoring hope for a child who lost his entire family. There is an unknown soldier in this initiative and that is Zinedine Zidane, who we warmly thank."

Ahmed's grandfather said: "He has just spent eight months in hospital. He is doing better, but a lot of time and care is still needed for him to truly recover." Nasser Dawabsha, the boy’s uncle, said Ahmed 'adores' Cristiano Ronaldo and had spent much of his time in hospital watching sports.

Photos: Ooni of Ife and his new wife visit Sultan of Sokoto

The Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Enitan Babatunde Ogunwusi,Ojaja II and his new wife Olori Wuraola visited to the Sultan of Sokoto at his palace in Sokoto yesterday. See more photos after the cut...

Building collapses in Lagos killing 1 person and several others injured

Tragedy struck again in Lagos yesterday, when a building  at No 9, Alli Close, Mile 12, partially collapsed and killed a 47-year-old woman with several other residents injured, According to an eyewitness, a part of the balcony in the building had caved in, but the residents of the building refused to vacate the place.

Mr. Michael Akindele, General Manager, Lagos State Emergency Management Authority, LASEMA, said preliminary investigation confirmed the death of the woman, and that no other fatal casualty was recorded.

He added that the residents of the 18-room-building had been evacuated and the site sealed off. The owner of the building has been summoned to the state Secretariat, Alausa Ikeja for questioning.

Nicki Minaj stuns in new pix

Nicki Minaj shared these stunning photos while in Joburg South Africa where she performed at her concert last night. More photos after the cut...

Kim K celebrate hitting 64million followers on IG -photo

 

Kim just hit the 64 million followers mark on Instagram. Although she's no longer the most followed person on IG, (Selena Gomez & Taylor Swift are above her) she still showed her love to her fans..

General Yakubu Gowon accepts 48 year old son after DNA test confirms he's the biolagical father

The 48 year legal tussle over the paternity of Jack Musa Gowon, the love child of former Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon, has ended with Gowon accepting that he is Musa’s father after a DNA test confirmed this.

Musa who recently returned to Nigeria after spending 20 years in an American prison, is the love child born from a secret affair Gowon had with late Edith Ike-Okongwu.

 In a statement he personally signed and released yesterday March 9th, General Gowon said,

“Following years of doubts and speculation, a DNA test was recently conducted to ascertain the paternity of Musa Gowon who recently returned to the country. The results of the tests were conclusive and they confirm his paternity. We, the family, are working to assist in his rehabilitation following a very difficult period in his life. As we look forward to the future with faith in God, we request that our privacy be respected. Thank you"

Musa and his late mother have been in a long legal battle with Gowon who refused to accept him as his son. He was born to Miss Edith Ike during the Nigeria Civil War in 1968, when Gowon was Head of the Federal Military Government and Commander-in-Chief of the federal forces.

Edith who later remarried, died of cancer several years ago.

Death toll climbs to 34 - Lagos building collapse

34 people have now been confirmed dead in the 5-storey building that collapsed at Chisco bus stop, opposite Oando Gas Station in the Lekki area of Lagos state on ‎Tuesday March 8th. 16 more dead bodies were recovered from the rubble yesterday.

Meanwhile the number of survivors still stands at 13. National Emergency Management Agency Southwest spokesman Ibrahim Farinloye, while speaking to newsmen at the rescue site at about 7.30pm, said: “Operations concluded at 7.20pm with 34 dead and 13 rescued after reaching ground zero. Investigation on the cause of the collapse has started by various federal and state agencies.”

Moment North Korean TV announces hydrogen bomb test

North Korea's state TV has announced that a hydrogen bomb was successfully tested in the Asian country.

The news came after monitors detected a tremor of magnitude 5.1 near the Punggye-ri nuclear test site.

Are Islamic State Missiles A Threat To RAF

We now know that they have at least the technology, if not the ability, to shoot down aircraft.
But how concerning is this for the coalition planes flying bombing missions over Syria and Iraq?
Will IS actually be able to shoot down US, French or British fighter jets?

Combat pilots can send out chaff and flares to evade missiles

The RAF Tornados and Typhoons fly at around 20,000 feet. Drones operate at a similar altitude. Shoulder-borne surface-to-air missiles, MANPADS, have a range of 12,000 feet, putting coalition aircraft out of reach.
The main threat therefore, would be to helicopters or during an aircraft's take-off and landing - the point at which they are most vulnerable.

Video: Inside IS Weapons Lab

During operations in Afghanistan, guards, usually from the RAF regiment, would patrol and secure the perimeter of Kandahar and Bastion airfields to prevent Taliban insurgents from targeting planes.
Surveillance balloons would keep watch over the bases and surrounding areas too.
This precaution isn't necessary during current anti-IS operations because all aircraft are stationed inside friendly territory: Cyprus, Turkey, Kuwait, Jordan, UAE and aircraft carriers in the Gulf.
Heightened airfield security is in practice, however, because of the situation.
If an aircraft is targeted by a surface-to-air missile, it has a suite of defensive options it could use to divert the attack.
Onboard detection systems will identify the MANPAD radar before a missile is even launched, giving the pilot time to take evasive action or prepare for an attack.
If a missile is fired, the pilot could send out chaff and flares.
Chaff is basically tin foil, cut into thousands of small pieces. It reflects radar signals and effectively hides the aircraft in an electro-magnetic cloud, confusing the tracking mechanism on the radar-guided missile.

Video: Islamic State's Driverless Car Bomb

Flares are effective against infrared-guided missiles. These weapons seek a heat source, so they are attracted to the hot spots on a plane, in particular the jet engine nozzles and exhaust.
One of the features of stealth aircraft for instance, is a low heat signature.
Flares create sudden bursts of intense heat, hotter than anything the aircraft is giving off itself. This acts as a decoy to the missile, again confusing its tracking system and, ideally, diverting the threat away.
A classic manoeuvre is to fire off the multiple flares and chaff then make a rapid turn away from the threat, and reduce engine power to lower the thermal signature of the aircraft.
Commercial aircraft don't have these defence measures, but having this weapon in Raqqa is one thing, getting it to and using it at a major European airport against an international airline, is some leaps away for IS yet.
It's all very well obtaining a surface-to-air missile system, but you need to know how to operate it. Just because you own an F1 car, doesn't mean you can drive it properly.
The video obtained by Sky News doesn't show Islamic State fighters actually using the shoulder borne surface-to-air missile, but we do see them demonstrate a worryingly advanced knowledge of the way it is put together, and that, at the very least, suggests a degree of competency.
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Germany shocked by Cologne New Year gang assaults on women

The scale of the attacks on women at the city's central railway station has shocked Germany. About 1,000 drunk and aggressive young men were involved.
City police chief Wolfgang Albers called it "a completely new dimension of crime". The men were of Arab or North African appearance, he said.
Women were also targeted in Hamburg.
But the Cologne assaults - near the city's iconic cathedral - were the most serious, German media report. At least one woman was raped, and many were groped.
Most of the crimes reported to police were robberies. A volunteer policewoman was among those sexually molested.

The pretty Christmas market and medieval setting may look idyllic, but at Christmas and New Year the area around Cologne Cathedral is a notorious danger zone when it comes to pickpockets and theft.
Now the sexual harassment, and in one case rape, of dozens of women has shocked Germany.
What is particularly disturbing is that the attacks appear to have been organised. Around 1,000 young men arrived in large groups, seemingly with the specific intention of carrying out attacks on women.
Police in Hamburg are now reporting similar incidents on New Year's Eve in the party area of St Pauli. One politician says this is just the tip of the iceberg.
And there are real concerns about what will happen in February when the drunken street-parties of carnival season kick off.

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Cologne will stage carnival events in February, with hundreds of thousands of revellers expected in the streets, as on New Year's Eve.
The police chief said "the assailants' behaviour is a real concern for me, also because of the carnival".
Police were deployed outside the central station because of the crowds on New Year's Eve, but failed to spot the many attacks, according to reports. There are also fears that a number of women did not report assaults.

'Monstrous' assaults

Cologne Mayor Henriette Reker said the attacks were "monstrous". "We cannot allow this to become a lawless area," she said, insisting that visitors could not come to the city fearing attack.
German Justice Minister Heiko Maas tweeted that "we won't tolerate these abhorrent assaults on women - all those responsible must be brought to justice".
One man described how his partner and 15-year-old daughter were surrounded by an enormous crowd outside the station and he was unable to help. "The attackers grabbed her and my partner's breasts and groped them between their legs."
A British woman visiting Cologne said fireworks had been thrown at her group by men who spoke neither German nor English. "They were trying to hug us, kiss us. One man stole my friend's bag," she told the BBC. "Another tried to get us into his 'private taxi'. I've been in scary and even life-threatening situations and I've never experienced anything like that."
The justice minister warned against linking the crimes to the issue of migrants and refugees.


Germany saw a record influx of migrants in 2015, which provoked an intense debate on immigration and marches by the anti-Islam Pegida movement.
Mr Maas said "the law does not discriminate regarding a person's origin or passport. All are equal before the law".
Cologne news website Koelner Stadt-Anzeiger says the suspects were already known to police because of frequent pickpocketing in and around Cologne central station.

Wider problem

In Hamburg several women told police that gangs of men had molested and robbed them on New Year's Eve on the Reeperbahn - a street known for its boisterous night life.
Some similar attacks were reported in Stuttgart.
A policeman who was outside Cologne station during the New Year's Eve trouble told the city's Express news website that he had detained eight suspects. "They were all asylum seekers, carrying copies of their residence certificates," he said.
However, there was no official confirmation that asylum seekers had been involved in the violence. Commentators in Germany were quick to urge people not to jump to conclusions.
German n-tv news says Cologne police are considering calling in reinforcements from other parts of Germany and installing extra surveillance cameras, with telescopic lenses.

Eleven Dead As Quake Rocks Eastern India

At least eleven people have been killed and almost 200 injured after an earthquake measuring 6.8 magnitude in eastern India.

The quake struck 29km (18 miles) west of the northeastern city of Imphal at 4.35am (11.05pm UK time), according to the US Geological Survey.
The pre-dawn quake killed six people in Imphal and five in neighbouring country Bangladesh, officials said.
The rescue operation in Imphal is being hampered by severed power supplies and telecommunication links across the city, which is home to 270,000 people.

"It was like being tossed around in a frying pan," said Joy Thanglian, a 33-year-old employee of state energy firm Bharat Petroleum. "Then we ran outside."
Imphal resident Deepak Shijagurumayum added: "Almost everyone was asleep when it struck and were thrown out of their beds.
"People were crying and praying in the streets and in open spaces. Hundreds remained outdoors for several hours fearing aftershocks."
There were similar scenes in the northeast city of Guwahati.

The quake was felt as far away as the Myanmar city of Yangon, 1,176km (730 miles) to the south.
As well as five deaths from heart attacks, another 90 people have been injured in Bangladesh.
Tremors were also felt in Nepal.
India's Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, wrote on Twitter that he is in touch with authorities in the affected area - though some have criticised the government's response.
"We haven't seen any help from the government side," said disaster volunteer worker Kanarjit Kangujam. "The government has not given us any information."
He added that the quake was the biggest that has been felt in Imphal.
The quake was 57km (35 miles) deep, the US Geological Survey said.

Bahrain Orders Iranian Diplomats To Leave

Bahrain has followed Saudi Arabia in severing diplomatic ties with Iran and ordering Iranian diplomats to leave the country within 48 hours.

The Bahrainis said the decision was triggered by the "cowardly" attacks on the Saudi embassy in Iran by protesters angry at the execution of Shia cleric Sheikh Nimr al Nimr.
The United Arab Emirates has also announced it is downgrading diplomatic ties with Iran, while Saudi media is reporting that Sudan has expelled the Iranian ambassador there.

The interventions by Bahrain, UAE and Sudan, which like Saudi Arabia are predominantly Sunni, represent another escalation in tension between the two branches of Islam.
Iran, a Shia powerhouse, has accused Saudi Arabia of using the attacks on its embassy in Tehran to deliberately stoke "tensions" in the region.

"Saudi Arabia, which thrives on tensions, has used this incident as an excuse to fuel the tensions," foreign ministry spokesman Hossein Jaberi Ansari said in televised remarks.
The protesters lit fires and smashed furniture in the embassy before being cleared out by police, who arrested 40 people.
No Saudi diplomats were in the embassy at the time and all have now been called home.
Iranian officials condemned the attack, as well as Sheikh al Nimr's execution by Saudi Arabia.
The 56-year-old was a driving force behind anti-government protests in Saudi during the Arab Spring of 2011.
He was put to death along with 46 other prisoners on Saturday, sparking widespread demonstrations and criticism.
The Saudis have insisted the death penalties were part of a justified war on terrorism.

But Iran's supreme leader said Saudi politicians will face "divine vengeance" for killing the cleric.
There has also been sectarian anger in eastern parts of Saudi, with hundreds of Shia Muslims marching through the streets, and demonstrations spread to countries including Turkey, Pakistan, India and Lebanon.
Police fired tear gas at demonstrators in Bahrain, while two Sunni mosques were bombed in Iraq's Hilla province.
The leader of Lebanese Shia militant group Hizbollah also strongly condemned Saudi Arabia, saying Sheikh al Nimr was a brave martyr killed only for his criticism of the Saudi ruling family.
China declared itself "highly concerned" with the developments, while Germany and the US called for calm.
A unnamed diplomat quoted by Russian state media said Moscow was ready to act as a peacemaker between the two countries.
Most of those executed on Saturday were detained after a series of attacks by al Qaeda between 2003 and 2006 in which hundreds of people were killed.

Four, including Sheikh al Nimr, were Shias accused of shooting police.
All but two - an Egyptian and a Chadian - were Saudi nationals.
Britain's Treasury minister David Gauke said the executions were "wrong", but he defended the UK's close relationship with the Saudi regime.
He told Sky News' Murnaghan programme: "When it comes to protecting British people, the Prime Minister has made it clear that intelligence from Saudi Arabia has helped save lives and protect people in the UK ...
"We have a relationship with Saudi Arabia where we are able to speak candidly to them, where these issues are raised on a regular basis by the Foreign Secretary and the Prime Minister and our representatives in Riyadh."

Season Greetings

On this New Year I wish that you have a superb January, a dazzling February, a Peaceful March, an anxiety free April, a sensational May, and Joy that keeps going from June to November, and then round off with an upbeat December.

Benin PM Lionel Zinsou escapes from helicopter crash

 

Benin's Prime Minister walked away unscathed after the helicopter in which he was traveling crashed in the country's northwest, his daughter said.

It is unclear why the helicopter carrying Lionel Zinsou crash-landed in a stadium.
"My father is fine. There were no victims in the helicopter accident in Djougou," Marie-Cecile Zinsou tweeted.
Earlier this month, Mr Zinsou confirmed he would run as a candidate in Benin's 2016 presidential elections.
The helicopter crashed while landing at a stadium in the city of Djougou, a spokesman for Benin's interior ministry Leonce Houngbadji told the AFP news agency.

He said no-one in the helicopter was hurt.
Mr Zinsou, a former private-equity executive, was appointed prime minister of Benin in June.
He has said he will run for president in February's election as a candidate of the ruling Cowry Forces for an Emerging Benin (FCBE) party.

Reuters reported in early December that Mr Zinsou's announcement put an end to speculation Benin's president Thomas Boni Yayi was seeking a third term.

Breaking News: Blatter's Ducking And Diving Catches Up With Him

From the moment Sepp Blatter became FIFA president in 1998 he has been dogged by allegations of corruption, and calls from inside football and out, to stand aside.

And for almost 20 years, he has managed to stay one step ahead of his pursuers.
No matter how tight the corner he has always found a way to slip the punch and fight on.
Whether it was allegations of bribery in his first election campaign, accusations of financial mismanagement in his second, or the corruption scandal surrounding the award of the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, he has managed to stay on his feet.

With an irony that will have delighted his opponents but appeared entirely lost on Blatter, the ban was handed down by FIFA's Ethics Committee, a body he established to try and convince the world that he was committed to cleaning up FIFA.
In the past it appeared to act as a hit-squad on his behalf, taking out former allies like the rogue Jack Warner when he posed a threat to Mr Blatter's reputation, or Mohammed Bin Hammam, his rival for the FIFA presidency in 2011.
Now it has targeted him, Blatter refuses to accept the verdict, and suggests that someone inside FIFA is pulling the trigger for their own purpose.
It is hubris entirely in keeping with his presidency and his leaving of it.
That was evident in his choice of venue for the valedictory press conference.
Barred from FIFA's current premises, he rented their former HQ above Lake Zurich, the building he first walked into 40 years ago when he joined the organisation.
In the same auditorium where he once hosted Nelson Mandela (and was first asked if he accepted bribes) he railed against the perceived injustice of the verdict.
He continued to maintain his innocence when he sat down with Sky News for his only UK interview afterwards, but up close the toll this has taken was clear.

Australia train derails with sulphuric acid cargo

 

An exclusion zone is in place after a 26-carriage freight train carrying some 200,000 litres (44,000 gallons) of sulphuric acid derailed in Australia.

The accident happened at 10:20 Sunday morning, 20km (12.4 miles) east of Julia Creek in north-west Queensland.
Three train staff are in hospital with minor injuries. The site was quickly declared an emergency and the 2km exclusion zone was imposed.
The extent of any acid leakage remains unclear, says Queensland Police.
The area has also been affected by flooding, which has hampered access to the site.

The Top Five (5) Most Dangerous Airlines in the World

 

The past couple of years have not been good for aviation, at least not from a PR perspective. From the botched landing of Asiana flight 214 in late 2013, to the fatal crashes of not one, but two Malaysia Airlines 777s in 2014, to the tragic loss at sea of an Indonesia AirAsia plane just a few months ago, it seems like there's a major plane crash every time you turn on the news.

The good news is that in spite of how dangerous flying might seem to be, global aviation safety continues to improve, overall, year-over-year. The bad news? None of the world's most dangerous airlines make headlines, which means you may inadvertently board one of their planes without knowing.

Indonesia's Lion Air is one of the world's most dangerous airlines. Aero Icarus via Wikimedia Commons

1.  Lion Air

Although Indonesia AirAsia has come under a great deal of scrutiny since flight QZ8501 crashed in late 2014, it is not Indonesia's most dangerous, even if its overall safety rating prevents it from ever flying to the United States or European Union, a ban shared by fellow Indonesian carriers Garuda Indonesia, KALstar Aviation and Sriwijaya Air.
No, that dubious honor goes to Lion Air, who has suffered many hull losses during its time in operation, although only one of them ever made major headlines.

This is all that remains of doomed Nepal Airlines flight 183. Krish Dulal via Wikimedia Commons

2.  Nepal Airlines

It's difficult not to have empathy for pilots who land jets in Nepal, what with the Himalayas being there and all – some planes are bound to be less lucky than others. This is unfortunately true not only anecdotally but in reality, with Nepal Airlines in particular being dangerous.
Having experienced nearly a dozen fatal accidents in the past three decades, in spite of a relatively modest flight schedule, Nepal Airlines gets just one star (out of a potential seven) from AirlineRatings.com, a site which ranks airline safety using a number of metrics.

Afghanistan's Kam Air is one of the easiest dangerous airlines to avoid. Karla Marshall via Wikimedia Commons

3.  Kam Air

The only thing less likely than having heard about Kam Air is having the opportunity (or need, as it were) to fly it – based in Afghanistan, Kam Air is not an airline the average backpacker would fly these days, unless that backpack is owned by the U.S. military. Kam Air has only been in operation for a decade, but has already experienced fatal accidents resulting in more than 100 passenger deaths.

Tara Air operates exclusively within the Himalaya region of Nepal. Solundir via Wikimedia Commons

4.  Tara Air

Tara Air maintains just as low a profile, internationally speaking, as Kam Air, although it operates in Nepal instead of Afghanistan. Although only one Tara Air flight has resulted in passenger fatalities, the airline has only existed for six years, which raises serious questions about its overall safety.
Tara Air is relatively easy for most travelers to avoid, since it operates exclusively to rural destinations in Nepal, but if you want to explore the foothills of the Himalaya, and don't have the time to endure the long overland journey from Kathmandu, you may find yourself with little choice but to fly Tara Air.

SCAT's planes might not look like its namesake, but the airline's safety record does. Maarten Visser via Wikimedia Commons

5.  SCAT Airlines

Kazakhstan-based SCAT Airlines' name doesn't do it any favors, even if you except the fact that its name is an acronym for something rather innocuous: "Special Cargo Air Transport." Unfortunately, SCAT's air record is just as smelly as what you think of when you first hear its name, but not because of how many fatal crashes it's suffered (just one) since it began operations in 1997.
Rather, the European Commission's decision to blacklist SCAT stems from an overall lack of confidence in its regulatory processes, which has spilled over onto other Kazakh airlines.

Breaking News: Monkey Steals Bus While Driver Slept In India

An Indian bus company said a joyriding monkey got behind the wheel of a bus while the driver was napping and crashed it into two parked buses. The Uttar Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation said the bus driver was taking a nap while parked at a station in Bareilly about a half an hour before his scheduled departure when a monkey climbed into the bus and managed to start the engine.

The driver woke up and moved to chase the monkey away, but it shifted the bus into second gear while fleeing out the window. “The driver managed to regain control of the bus but not before it hit two other parked buses,” SK Sharma, a regional manager for the bus company, told the Times of India. Sharma said the company has had monkey troubles in the past.

“Monkeys have become a regular menace at bus stations and workshops, where they often fiddle with vehicles undergoing repair. They have also damaged CCTV cameras at stations. Three years back we had taken the help of municipal authorities to get rid of them but they have returned,” Sharma said. Sharma said the bus company is in talks with local officials about hiring trappers to relocate the monkeys.

Breaking News: Sokoto proposes over N161b budget, Kebbi N107b, Taraba N68.8b

Three of the 36 Nigerian states - Sokoto, Taraba and Kebbi have joined those that had presented their budget proposals for the 2016 fiscal year.

N161B FOR SOKOTO

Governor Aminu Waziri Tambuwal of Sokoto has proposed a budget of over N161 billion for the 2016 fiscal year to the state assembly.

The state Commissioner of Information, Alhaji Abdulkadir Jeli Abubakar III told journalists on Wednesday after the state weekly executive council meeting chaired by the governor, that over N50 billion  was for recurrent expenditure while capital expenditure stood at over N110 billion.

His Finance counterpart, Saidu Umar described it as a 'balanced budget' saying every aspect captured in the proposal was backed by appropriate revenue and expenditure lines.

According to him, "education has to top the proposal in view of the declaration of state of emergency on the sector."

He said a committee to revitalise the sector in terms of funding had been set up in addition to other supportive measures to adequately fund the sector.

Commissioner for Justice, Barrister Suleiman Usman said the proposed budget reflected the hope and aspirations of the people of Sokoto State saying, "It is a budget of hope, aspirations and change for optimum service, transformation and responsive governance."

TARABA PROPOSES N68.8B BUDGET

Taraba State Governor Darius Dickson Ishaku on Wednesday presented to the State House of Assembly a budget of N68.8 billion for the fiscal year 2016.

Ishaku who called the appropriation bill "The Rescue Budget" said it was prepared bearing in mind "the realities of times.

 "We can only spend what we have; our projections are conservative and based on what we feel are more certain to accrue within the 2016 fiscal period."

A breakdown of the rescue budget has recurrent expenditure of N42.7 billion, representing 62.10 percent, and a capital expenditure of N26 billion, representing 37.90 percent of the budget.

The governor is expecting fiscal projections from the traditional revenues of the federal statutory allocations of N35.8 billion, Internally Generated Revenues (IGR) of N5.3 billion, Value Added Tax (VAT) of N8.6 billion, Aids and Grants N5.3 billion, proposed internal loan of N12 billion and external loan draw down of N1.4 billion.

He listed his priority areas as agriculture, health and peace.

Housing and urban development carried the lion share of N4.8 billion, followed by skills and knowledge enhancement programme with N3.4 billion and governance with N3.4 billion.

Agriculture carried N2.3 billion, health N2.9 billion while roads construction and transportation carried N2.4 billion.

Moreover, poverty alleviation got N100 million, youth empowerment N235.8 million, private sector N297 million, gender empowerment N350 million and airways N500 million.

The governor said he had directed that a strategic framework for the implementation of his rescue agenda manifesto be developed between now and the end of February 2016, to serve as the basis for the annual budgets of the state from now to 2019.

The Deputy Speaker Muhammed Gwampo said "the appropriation bill will be speedily deliberated upon and put into law in the soonest possible time, so that we shall not delay the governor in his agenda of rescuing Taraba state."

KEBBI PROPOSES N107B BUDGET

Governor Abubakar Atiku Bagudu of Kebbi State has presented a budget of N107 billion to the State House of Assembly for the 2016 fiscal year.

The budget tagged '’Bring back Kebbi State on track’’ with   N73 billion for capital expenditure and N34 billion for recurrent expenditure.

The highest allocation of N16.4 billion was to education sector followed by agriculture with N12.5 billion while the health sector got N3.9 billion.

Governor Bagudu decried the level of decay in the education sector, saying the  immediate past administration allocated only N3 billion to the sector “which is currently characterised by poor infrastructure like furniture and lack of enough motivated teachers in schools.”

In his response after the presentation, the Speaker of the House of Assembly, Hon. Samaila Abdulmumin Kamba promised that the House would expedite action on the budget for rapid development of the state.

Facebook Plea To Stop Taliban Taking Helmand

The southern Afghanistan province where hundreds of British troops were killed is "on the brink" of falling to the Taliban, according to a senior official.

Helmand's deputy governor Mohammad Jan Rasulyar took the unusual step of writing a public plea to Afghan President Ashraf Ghani on Facebook, warning of the need to take urgent action, following two days of intense fighting which cost the lives of dozens of members of the security forces.

He wrote: "We don't provide food and ammunition to our forces on time, do not evacuate our wounded and martyred soldiers from the battle field, and foreign forces only watch the situation from their bases and don't provide support."

Mr Rasulyar said around 90 soldiers had been killed in fighting near Gereshk, which is near the provincial capital of Lashkar Gah, where British forces had one of their bases.

He described these losses as "an everyday issue" and said there had been a further 44 casualties overnight in Sangin, which was "on the verge of collapse".

In 2006, British troops began an operation to take Helmand from the Taliban and the region, one of Afghanistan's poorest, became the focus of their 13-year stay in the country.

After Britain pulled out late last year, however, the Afghan Security Forces were left largely fighting alone.
Despite extensive training by US and British forces, many doubted their ability to hold the province, which had previously been a Taliban stronghold and the centre of Afghanistan's opium production.

While the Afghan army and police have been weakened by desertions and a lack of supplies, the Taliban has attacked checkpoints, conducted a suicide attack on Gereshk's police chief, and captured the districts of Musa Qalah and Now Zad in Helmand's north.

If Helmand was to fall, it would deliver a massive blow to the government's claim it is keeping the Taliban insurgency under control.

A spokesman for Afghanistan's Army, Mohammad Rasool Zazai, insisted Helmand would never collapse.
Police chief Abul Rahman Sarjang said there are "strong forces" in the province, added they sometimes left areas "for tactical reasons".

He said: "Very soon, we will have major achievements to report."
Underlining the gravity of the situation, US special forces have been reported to have taken part in fighting in Helmand in recent weeks. NATO headquarters in Kabul has not confirmed the reports.

A Pentagon report to Congress last week highlighted major shortcomings with Afghan security forces, despite billions of dollars of foreign aid and training.