VISION-WORLD NEWS

Argentines are going to the polls to choose their next president in a general election that ends 12 years of rule under the Kirchners. President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner has served two consecutive terms and, under Argentina's constitution, cannot run again. Her hand-picked successor, left-winger Daniel Scioli, is leading polls. But he is expected to face stiff competition from Mauricio Macri, the centre-right mayor of Buenos Aires. Another candidate, Sergio Massa, a former Kirchner ally, is polling behind Mr Macri, while there are three other names on the ballot paper. Sunday sees the first round of voting. To win outright a candidate needs 45% of the vote or a minimum of 40% as well as a 10-point lead over the nearest rival. Otherwise, there will be a run-off on 22 November. Whoever wins the presidency faces significant economic challenges. While the country gained strength after a financial crisis in 2002, its economy, the third largest in Latin America, has slowed ...

Tanzania is holding its most tightly contested general elections, as a new opposition coalition tries to end the governing party's 54-year grip on power. There has been a high turnout at voting stations, reports say. Opinion polls have put the governing Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) party ahead, but the result is expected to be close. Four opposition groups are backing one candidate, a former prime minister, in the presidential race. The BBC's Tulanana Bohela reports from the main city Dar es Salaam that usually busy streets and markets are deserted, and large queues have formed at polling stations as people wait patiently to cast their ballots. President Jakaya Kikwete, who is standing down after two terms, has called for peace ahead of the election, adding that "anyone who tries to cause trouble will be dealt with". Could CCM lose? Money, power and politics Image captionTurnout seems to be higher than previous polls, which were a foregone conclusionImage captionTh...

Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers state has said that he will appeal the judgment of the election petition tribunal nullifying his election, The Cable reports. The Rivers state Election Petition Tribunal earlier today sacked Nyesom Wike as the Governor . Chris Uche (SAN), the counsel to PDP, after the judgment, said that Wike still remains the governor until the appeal processes are exhausted. The counsel expressed shock that in less than 24 hours after lawyers on all sides submitted nine written addresses and documents, the tribunal sent notice that judgment would be delivered on Saturday, October 24. Uche said that the tribunal was aware the supreme court judgment on the jurisdiction of the tribunal outside of Rivers state would be delivered on Tuesday, adding that the tribunal had 7 days to deliver its judgment, wondering why it chose to do so in less than two days. According to Premium Times, the tribunal, which delivered its ruling in Abuja on Saturday, October ...

About 250 students of the Federal Government Girls’ College in Efon Alaaye, Ekiti State, have been infected with an outbreak of a disease suspected to be cholera.  Although some of the students affected were treated and discharged, a good number were still undergoing treatment in the hospital.  There were reports that parents had started rushing to retrieve their wards from the school as news of the epidemic became widespread on Thursday.  PREMIUM TIMES learnt that signs were noticed on October 10, when some students showed symptoms of the infection.  Although the school principal, Grace Ogunyomi, reported the matter to the state government, no immediate action beyond the routine medical attention was provided.  It was gathered that the students were infected in small numbers, but the matter escalated on Wednesday, resulting in government action, after the principal, Mrs. Ogunyomi, made a formal report.  Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose, imm...

A big congratulations to Miss. UNOAKU ANYADIKE. who emerge the most beautiful girl in Nigeria. Question :if u were selected as the MBGN what Will you do? #MBGN2015# I'll go back to my state #Anambra and partner with my governor on the issue of gully erosion in the state -#MissAnambra

Image copyrightReutersImage captionThe new species "Chelonoidis donfaustoi" was named after a long-time Galapagos park ranger Scientists say they have identified a new species of giant tortoise on the Galapagos Islands in the Pacific. They used genetic data to determine that a group of 250 slow-moving reptiles was distinct from another tortoise species on Santa Cruz island. It is the 15th known tortoise species to be discovered on the archipelago, though four are now extinct. The new species has been named "Chelonoidis donfaustoi", after a retired Galapagos park ranger. Giant tortoises in the Galapagos tend to weigh up to 250kg and live longer than 100 years. ADVERTISEMENT Experts had long believed that the two giant tortoise populations on the Santa Cruz island were the same species, but genetic testing proved this to be wrong, Ecuador's environment ministry said in a statement on Wednesday. The newly-identified species, which is also known as the Easte...

Manchester United: Schweinsteiger may sue over Nazi dolls Image copyrightGetty Images/Dragon in DreamImage captionA Dragon in Dream spokesman denied the doll was based on United midfielder Schweinsteiger Bastian Schweinsteiger is considering taking legal action against a Hong Kong company making Nazi dolls that bear a striking resemblance to him. The Manchester United midfielder's management company put the matter into the hands of their German-based lawyers earlier this week. The dolls, named 'World War II Army Supply Duty - Bastian', are made in China by  Dragon in Dream. The company told German paper  Bild  any resemblance was "purely coincidental". "We don't sell any figures which resemble footballers. It is a complete coincidence that the figure 'Bastian' looks like Schweinsteiger," a spokesman added. "We thought that all Germans look like that. Bastian is also a very common name in Germany." The figurine  comes in sev...

Sweden sword attack: Two killed by masked attacker 2 hours ago  From the section Europe Image copyrightAFPImage captionThe suspect apparently posed for photos with pupils ahead of the attack A masked man armed with a sword has killed a pupil and a teacher at a school in Sweden. The suspect, clad in black, apparently posed for photos with students ahead of the attack, in the western town of Trollhattan. Two further victims, a pupil and a teacher, are seriously injured. The attacker was shot by police and has died of his injuries. He was 21 and resident in Trollhattan, police said. The king has said Sweden "is in shock". Eyewitnesses described chaos at the school, with hundreds of students fleeing from the building screaming. You need to install Flash Player to play this content. Media captionMaddy Savage, an editor at The Local Sweden, says police are looking into claims that the attacker had links with the far right in Sweden Police responded to an emergency call r...

(FRANKS..) he bomb attack that killed 20 people at Bangkok's Erawan shrine on Monday was carried out by a "network", Thailand's chief of police has said. Police have released a sketch of the main suspect, a man in a yellow T-shirt who was filmed by security cameras leaving a backpack at the shrine. Police later said two other people seen on CCTV were being treated as suspects. Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha has described the incident as the worst-ever attack on Thailand. The Hindu shrine, popular with tourists and Buddhists, reopened on Wednesday. 'Hired to plant bomb' Bangkok Bangkok Bangkok Gaysorn Plaza shopping centre Erawan Shrine Erawan Shrine BTS Skytrain Approximate blast area Ratchaprasong Junction 200m Google Reuters 500 feet THAILAND Police chief Somyot Poompanmoung told the Associated Press news agency that the shrine attack was the work of more than one person...

(FRANKS..) Al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri has pledged allegiance to the new Afghan Taliban chief in an audio message posted online. The pledge to Mullah Akhtar Mansour was issued by al-Qaeda's media arm al-Sahab and was Zawahiri's first message since September last year. There had been speculation about whether Zawahiri was himself dead since the death of former Taliban head Mullah Omar was confirmed last month. Zawahiri offered his condolences. Significant oath Al-Qaeda and Zawahiri considered Mullah Omar to be the leader of the global jihadist movement. This was however contested by al-Qaeda's rival , the Islamic State (IS) militant group, which announced the establishment of a caliphate last year. In the recording released on jihadist websites, accompanied by a still image of the leader, he said: "As emir of al-Qaeda, I pledge to you our allegiance, following the path of Sheikh (Osama) bin Laden and his martyred brothers in their allegi...

(FRANKS..) Russia has blocked access to some parts of social news site Reddit for "promoting" use of banned substances. Several pages on the sites are believed to have been banned over a discussion about how to cultivate hallucinogenic mushrooms. The Russian media watchdog initially planned to block the entire site if it got no response from Reddit. Earlier in the week the same agency threatened to ban Reddit for discussions about growing marijuana. Blogger registry The block was enacted by Roskomnadzor - Russia's Federal service for the Supervision of Communications, Information Technology and Mass Media. It had called for a block on pages posted two years ago about the best way to grow psilocybin mushrooms. Roskomnadzor maintains the list of all sites banned in Russia and added Reddit to that roster at the behest of the country's national drug control agency, reported news site Meduza . The agency also posted information about the block to its ow...

(FRANKS..) The massive explosions in China's northern city of Tianjin are now known to have killed at least 50 people. More than 700 have been injured and hospitals are struggling to cope with the number of casualties. The blasts, at a warehouse storing toxic chemicals, destroyed tower blocks and burned out thousands of cars. The fireball could be seen from space. Twelve firefighters are among those who lost their lives; 36 of their colleagues are still missing. Tianjin is one of China's most important industrial centres, and one of the busiest ports in the world. President Xi Jinping has promised a thorough investigation into what happened and "transparent information disclosure to the public," Xinhua news agency reports . What we know about explosions The first explosion occurred at about 23:30 local time (15:30 GMT) on Wednesday in Tianjin's Binhai New Area, a vast industrial zone which houses car factories, aircraft assembly lines and other man...

(FRANKS..) A tanker carrying propane gas has caught fire, shutting the M56 motorway near Chester, with trains and air travel also affected. Firefighters are tackling the lorry fire, which started just before 15:00 BST on the westbound carriageway. The motorway has been closed in both directions between junctions 12 and 15 near Stanlow and Frodsham. Cheshire Police has tweeted there are no casualties, but drivers are being warned to avoid the area. The force said it would remove the central reservation so motorists could turn around and get off the motorway. Residents in Helsby, Hapsford and Elton are advised to stay indoors and close their windows and doors. om Jackson, who is stuck on the motorway, said: "I was about 20 cars back and we just saw the traffic start to slow and then come to a complete standstill. "A huge plume of black smoke and then two small explosions, that may have been tyres, then there was a huge one which was like a giant bunsen burner g...

(FRANKS..) Six members of the security forces have been killed in a series of attacks in Turkey amid rising tension between the government and Kurdish militants. In south-eastern Sirnak province, four police officers were killed by a roadside bomb and a soldier died when gunmen fired on a military helicopter. In Istanbul, a police officer was killed in clashes after a car bombing. Meanwhile, the city's US consulate was attacked by two assailants. A leftist group said it carried out that attack. The outlawed Revolutionary People's Liberation Army Front (DHKP-C) made the claim in a statement on its website, which described the US as the "chief enemy of people in the Middle East and in the world". One of the two women assailants in the attack on the consulate was wounded and detained, and a rifle and other weaponry were seized, Istanbul's governor said in a statement. The DHKP-C named the detained woman as Hatice Asik. The group previously claimed...

(FRANKS..)   First Bank on Monday donated N1.5 million to the management of the University of Ilorin in support of the university toward a successful hosting of UNILORIN Marathon. The event is scheduled to hold sometime in October. The cheque, presented to the Vice Chancellor, AbdulGaniyu Ambali, by Salami was part of a courtesy visit to university of Ilorin by the top management of First Bank on Monday in Ilorin. The Group Head of the bank, Mr Babatunde Salami described University of Ilorin as a worthy and good partner with the bank. "A university that has come this long way after 40 years of its existence is still breaking grounds in all manners of academic and intellectual pursuits, needed to be supported,"he said. The statement quoted Salami as saying that the bank would not only support the marathon financially, but will also participate in the event by presenting its own team. "I believe that by so doing, we would have shown our suppor...

(FRANKS..) The military yesterday said it captured a Boko Haram commander and freed another 178 hostages taken by the insurgents in some communities. Troops of the 7 Division of the Nigerian Army, Maiduguri, Borno State had continued the offensive against the insurgents’ camps in some communities in Bama Local Government , leading to the arrest of the suspected Boko Haram commander. A total of 178 hostages were also freed during the operation yesterday, Deputy Director of Army Public Relations, Col. Tukur Gusau, said in a statement. “One Boko Haram commander was captured alive and is presently undergoing investigation,” the army said. It said: “Troops successfully cleared terrorists’ camps” at Fadan, Shuwarin, Wulari, Ngoro Dauye, Jidori, Alikashiri, Kalzamari-Shuwa and Kalzamari-Kanuri in Bama Local Government located in the central part of Borno State. “The troops of 21 Brigade in conjunction with elements of 151 Task Force Battalion of 7 Division, Nigerian ...

(FRANKS..)   BY EBERE WABARA Last week, a faceless treble of petitioners on ad hoc institutional platforms unsurprisingly called on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to conclude the prosecution of the former governor of Abia State (1999-2007), Dr. Orji Uzor Kalu, for alleged corruption while in office. The hare-brained petitioners insinuated that the anti-graft agency may have been compromised, hence its lackadaisical and nonchalant attitude to the case. The lack of surprise alluded to in the introduction to this intervention is because The Sun newspapers had been strident on their reportage of petitions by groups demanding the arrest, investigation and indictment generally and interdiction (against senatorship particularly) of the immediate-past governor of Abia State, Chief Theodore Ahamefule Orji, and others, for alleged financial improprieties while in office. The coincidence of The Sun information dissemination and the “reminder” to EFCC ...