VISION-WORLD NEWS

(FRANKS..) President Jonathan was in Lagos yesterday to commission four Naval Warships and decided while here to have an interactive session with some South West market women and their leaders at the State House in Marina, Lagos. More photos after the cut...

(FRANKS..) It was a day of glamour and style at the Nnamdi Azikiwe University; Awka, when it unveiled the Aluta Newspaper during the second edition of the Aluta Conference held in the university auditorium. The event was attended by top politicians and student leaders in the state, including the National Chairman of All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA), Chief Victor Umeh; Special Assistant to the President on Youths and Students Affairs, Jude Imagwe and others. At the event, the Director-General of the National Institute of Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS), who was represented by a former Special Assistant to the Abia State Governor on Youth and Student Affairs; Jasper Uche, in his speech titled: Students as catalyst for national rebirth said unionism was instrumental to fighting colonialism in the heydays of students’ activism. “When the National Union of Nigerian Students (NUNS) was formed, it became a rallying point for all the fine brand progressives and radica...

(FRANKS..) Nigeria's two main oil workers' unions have begun a nationwide strike, threatening to hurt the output of Africa's largest oil producer. BBC reporters say long queues have formed at many petrol stations. The unions, Pengassan and Nupeng, said the strike would continue until the government addressed its concerns. These include the adoption of the delayed Petroleum Industry Bill, aimed at overhauling the sector and maintenance work on oil refineries. The unions frequently go on strike or threaten to strike. This time, the two unions were initially demanding the reinstatement of representatives who had been dismissed by oil companies, but now their list of complaints has grown. They are now protesting that the government has allowed Nigeria's oil refineries to fall into disrepair and that the poor state of the country's roads is hindering the transport of oil. They are also asking for ...

(FRANKS..) When Arkansas Governor Mike Beebe's son Kyle was arrested for possession of a controlled substance - two ounces of marijuana - with the intent to deliver in 2003, the governor said: "If he broke the law, he needs to pay for it. He needs to be treated like everybody else - no better, worse." The son was sentenced to three years of probation, which he served without incident. Eleven years later, Mr Beebe says he will pardon his son, expunging his felony record. Some are wondering whether "everybody else" will be pardoned for what the governor calls "stupid stuff" they did in their youth. The outgoing Democratic governor told KATV News he would have pardoned his son long ago, but Kyle, 34, "took his sweet time about [asking for] it". He also said that the action was unanimously recommended by the state Pardons and Parole Board (whose members are appointed by the governor). Continue reading th...

(FRANKS..) Actress Misty Upham appeared in August: Osage County and Django Unchained A family spokeswoman has confirmed that a body found in a ravine near Seattle is 32-year-old actress Misty Upham. Upham, known for roles in August: Osage County and Django Unchained, had been missing since 6 October. Her body was found following a search of the area by friends and family. Her father, Charles Upham, confirmed her identity to the authorities. The Native American actress was understood to have suffered from bipolar disorder. Police Commander Steve Stocker said there was presently no evidence or information "to believe there is foul play." At the time of her disappearance, her father expressed concern that the actress was off her medication and may have been suicidal. However, film-maker Tracy Rector - a long-time friend and spokesperson for the family, said: "Th...

(FRANKS..) Continue reading the main story Nigeria abductions Politics and parents Malala's appeal Hostage negotiations Military failings Six months since militant Islamist group Boko Haram sparked global outrage by abducting more than 200 girls from Chibok town in north-eastern Nigeria, the government has still failed to secure their release. The BBC's Will Ross spoke to the parents of some of the girls about their ordeal. In the remote farming community of Chibok, the agony is only getting worse. The parents and other relatives of the missing 219 school girls complain that they have been left to rely on a diet of rumour from the media and a long list of unfulfilled promises from the politicians. "The government must do more to get the girls back. Some parents are already dying. About six women have g...

(FRANKS..) Nigeria's military says it has agreed a truce with Islamist militant group Boko Haram - and says the schoolgirls the group has abducted will be released. Boko Haram sparked global outrage six months ago by abducting more than 200 schoolgirls. Nigeria's chief of defence staff, Alex Badeh, announced the truce. Boko Haram has not made a public statement. The military has struggled to defeat Boko Haram, an Islamist group that has fought an insurgency since 2009. The girls were seized in the north-eastern town of Chibok, and their continued captivity has led to criticism of the Nigerian government's efforts to secure their release. Air Chief Marshal Badeh revealed the truce at the close of a three-day security meeting between Nigeria and Cameroon. He said Nigerian soldiers would comply with the agreement. 'Cautiously optimistic' Nigerian presidential aide Hassan Tukur told BBC Focus on Africa that...

(FRANKS..) A UN medical worker infected with Ebola has died at a hospital in Germany. Doctors at the hospital in Leipzig said the man, 56, originally from Sudan, died despite receiving experimental drugs to treat the virus. More than 4,400 people have died from the outbreak, mainly in West Africa. The rate of new cases at some of the "epicentre" areas has slowed down, the World Health Organization says, but the number of cases in the capitals of the worst-affected countries is rising. Senior WHO official Bruce Aylward told reporters on Monday that the outbreak was also continuing to spread geographically to new districts in the capitals of Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea. Elsewhere: The US and UK are among countries to have introduced scanning at airports A Spanish nurse remains in critical condition after becoming the first person to contract the disease outside of Africa last week, although doctors say there are ...

(FRANKS..) Seven years ago, Hong Kong natives Legward Wong and Jeff Ng decided to set up a small business to tackle what they believed to be a big social problem. In traditional Chinese culture, the elderly were revered for their wisdom and contribution to their community. After decades of raising children and working to support the family, they used to be able to look forward to their golden years of being pampered by the younger generation. But because flats in this cramped city of more than seven million people are notoriously tiny and residents here tend to work long, gruelling hours, many senior citizens have ended up in nursing homes, instead of being cared for by family members. According to Mr Wong, in the 1990s, the government gradually stopped subsidising care for the elderly through non-profit organisations because of the high cost. "High land costs and high labour costs in Hong Kong not only bring up a huge social ...

(FRANKS..) Chen Guangbiao is a very rich man, worth by his own estimate, more than a billion dollars. In modern day China though, there's nothing unique about that. But Mr Chen owes his fame not to what he has, but to what he's given away. The walls of his office are plastered with certificates that record his charitable donations over the years, many of them documenting multiple millions of Chinese yuan. They suggest a decade or more of unbounded largesse, showered on schools, hospitals, orphanages and victims of floods, typhoons and earthquakes. His motivation, he tells me, is simple. "When I was eight years old, I was always starving. My brother and sister died from starvation," he says. "One summer vacation I carried water to the town market to sell it and I used some of the money I made to help a neighbour. "It was the first time I'd helped someone and it made me feel hap...

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(FRANKS..) (CNN) -- One man more interested than most in what President Barack Obama will have to say in his address to the nation Wednesday night is al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri. In his hideout somewhere in Pakistan or Afghanistan, he will likely be hoping that the President sets out a plan to exterminate the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS), a group that has eclipsed al Qaeda and made al-Zawahiri seem virtually irrelevant. Al-Zawahiri and the core of al Qaeda are locked in battle with ISIS for the leadership of the global jihadist movement -- offering very different visions and strategies. ISIS was expelled from al Qaeda in February after rejecting al-Zawahiri's demand that it restrict its activities to Iraq. ISIS has captured the imagination of a new generation of jihadists -- from Arab and European states alike -- with its ruthless pursuit of a Caliphate, dramatic territorial gains and relentless propaganda machine. Its chilling brutality to...