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Sunday, 06 October 2024 06:50
Chinese hackers breached US court wiretap systems, WSJ reports
Chinese hackers accessed the networks of U.S. broadband providers and obtained information from systems that the federal government uses for court-authorized wiretapping, the Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday.
Verizon Communications (VZ.N), opens new tab, AT&T (T.N), opens new tab and Lumen Technologies (LUMN.N), opens new tab are among the telecoms companies whose networks were breached by the recently discovered intrusion, the newspaper said, citing people familiar with the matter.
The hackers might have held access for months to network infrastructure used by the companies to cooperate with court-authorized U.S. requests for communications data, the newspaper said. It said the hackers had also accessed other tranches of internet traffic.
China's foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. Beijing has in the past denied claims by the U.S. government and others that it has used hackers to break into foreign computer systems.
Verizon Communications, AT&T and Lumen Technologies did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Wall Street Journal said the attack was carried out by a Chinese hacking group with the aim of collecting intelligence. U.S. investigators have dubbed it "Salt Typhoon".
Earlier this year, U.S. law enforcement disrupted a major Chinese hacking group nicknamed "Flax Typhoon," months after confronting Beijing about sweeping cyber espionage under a campaign named "Volt Typhoon."
[Reuters]
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Sunday, 06 October 2024 06:46
Amazon bets on selling cashierless technology to retailers after pulling it from most U.S. stores
In 2012, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos was asked by TV host Charlie Rose whether his e-commerce company would ever venture into brick-and-mortar stores. Bezos said shoppers were well-served by existing physical retailers and that Amazon wasn’t interested in launching a “me-too” product.
“We want to do something that’s uniquely Amazon,” Bezos said. “If we can find that idea, and we haven’t found it yet, but if we can find that idea, we would love to open physical stores.”
Six years later, Amazon landed on a revolutionary retail concept that it hoped would transform how people shop in brick-and-mortar stores. The company launched its first Amazon Go convenience store featuring a new kind of technology, called “Just Walk Out.”
In practice, customers would be able to load up their cart and exit the store without standing in a checkout line. Amazon soon brought cashierless checkout to its Fresh supermarkets and two Whole Foods locations. In 2020, the company began licensing Just Walk Out technology to third parties, signing on retailers in stadiums, airports and hospitals.
But the company has since taken a sideways turn.
In April, Amazon announced it was removing cashierless checkout from its U.S. Fresh stores and Whole Foods locations, a move that coincided with CEO Andy Jassy’s efforts to rein in costs to meet rapidly changing macro conditions.
As part of that effort, Amazon also reevaluated its retail plans. The company discontinued some of its retail chains, closed eight Amazon Go stores, and hit pause on new Fresh store openings. It’s launched a handful of new Fresh stores in recent months.
In place of Just Walk Out, which typically requires ceiling-mounted cameras, shelf sensors and gated entry points, Amazon Fresh stores and Whole Foods supermarkets will feature Dash Carts. The carts track and tally up items as shoppers place them in bags, enabling people to skip the checkout line. Amazon continues to use Just Walk Out in its grab-and-go marts and UK Fresh stores.
A woman uses a dash cart during her grocery-shopping at a Whole Foods store as Amazon launches smart shopping carts at Whole Foods stores in San Mateo, California, United States on February 25, 2024. The smart shopping cart makes grocery shopping quicker by allowing customers to scan products right into their cart as they shop and then skip the checkout line.
Tayfun Coskun | Anadolu | Getty Images
The main challenge for Amazon and other startups working on autonomous checkout is the need to scale it to enough locations and retail categories that it becomes a natural part of in-store shopping, said Jordan Berke, founder and CEO of retail consulting firm Tomorrow.
“Until that’s the case, it’s an uphill battle,” Berke said. “These technology providers, Amazon included, are going to have to subsidize and continue to invest to train the retailer, train the consumer, train the market, that this is a mainstream experience that we can all trust and not need to think about as we walk in and out of a store.”
‘The hardest problem to solve’
At one point Amazon saw Just Walk Out becoming a core part of the experience of shopping in its physical stores. The company in 2018 planned to open as many as 3,000 Amazon Go stores within a few years, Bloomberg reported at the time, citing people familiar with the plans.
Bezos had assigned top talent from across the company, including a longtime Amazon executive who built the original Kindle e-reader, to work on cashierless checkout. The technology was considered a key ingredient in Amazon’s long-running pursuit to become a giant in the $1.6 trillion U.S. grocery market.
When Amazon debuted Just Walk Out in January 2018, it was a “quake moment” for the industry, causing Walmart and “almost every other retailer” to leap into action and consider developing their own vision-based checkout systems, said Berke, who previously led Walmart’s e-commerce business in China.
Amazon and other retailers soon learned that automating the checkout process is “the hardest problem to solve,” Berke said. Cashierless checkout systems require a hefty upfront investment to blanket a store with overhead cameras and hire staff to label and review shopping data.
“It meant a store had to dramatically increase its sales in order to pay off that investment,” Berke said.
Walmart teams found as part of a cost analysis in early 2019 that it would run a retailer between $10 million and $15 million to create a similar computer vision-based checkout system for a 40,000 square foot supermarket, Berke said.
Just Walk Out became an expensive project for Amazon, too. In 2019 and 2020, the company shelled out roughly $1 billion per year, including research and development costs and capital expenditures, to “learn and scale” the technology, Berke said. He said those figures are based on discussions with a former Just Walk Out executive who left Amazon to join Walmart. Amazon didn’t provide a comment on the figures.
Many retailers have since moved on from computer vision in favor of simpler methods like mobile checkout through an app, Berke said.
Walmart uses a self-checkout app in its stores, while supermarket chain Kroger has been experimenting with Instacart’s Caper connected shopping carts at some locations. Retailers like Target and Dollar General are rethinking self-checkout entirely due to concerns of rising theft in their stores, and have added more traditional checkout lanes.
While it’s no longer featuring Just Walk Out as prominently in its own stores, Amazon says it has inked deals with a growing list of customers. More than 200 third-party stores have paid Amazon to install the cashierless system. The company expects to double the number of third-party Just Walk Out stores this year, Jon Jenkins, who previously served as vice president of Amazon’s Just Walk Out technology, said in a recent interview. Jenkins departed Amazon in late September to become technology chief of electric bike and scooter startup Lime, according to his LinkedIn page.
Jon Jenkins, Amazon’s former vice president of Just Walk Out technology, gives a tour of the mock convenience store where the company tests its cashierless checkout system in Seattle, Washington, on August 22, 2024.
CNBC
Jenkins disputed characterizations that Amazon’s phasing out of Just Walk Out from its own supermarkets represents a setback or a sign of the technology’s demise. He said Amazon proved through tests in its own grocery stores that the technology is “incredibly capable,” noting it deployed the system in large supermarkets with “600 people in the store at the same time.”
Other startups such as AiFi and Grabango have developed autonomous systems for supermarkets, convenience stores and other retailers, but widespread adoption has been slow, as the technology remains costly and challenging to operate in large store formats.
Inside the lab
Amazon is still fine-tuning its Just Walk Out technology.
In August, CNBC got the first on-camera look at a mock convenience store where Amazon tests the system before deploying it in third party retailers and its own stores.
The testing lab, which it calls “beverage base camp,” is located in Amazon’s Seattle headquarters. It has faux gates that mimic the experience of scanning your smartphone or credit card to enter a Just Walk Out store. The walls are lined with shelves of typical grab-and-go products like Milky Way bars, pita chips and gum, and there are coolers stocked with Coke cans and other beverages.
Amazon sets up Just Walk Out stores by first creating a 3D scan using LiDAR machines or iPads that help it determine where to place cameras so they have the clearest view.
“The goal is to have the fewest number of cameras possible, so we optimize the camera placement so that we can get enough coverage on each fixture to see what is happening in the store,” Jenkins said.
The system determines what shoppers purchased using several inputs, including the 3D scans, a catalog of product images, the video footage, and weight sensors on the shelves. Amazon in July updated the AI system behind its Just Walk Out technology to handle all the inputs in a store simultaneously.
The new “multi-modal” system can generate receipts faster by more accurately predicting which items shoppers have picked up and put back on shelves. The company said these changes should make it “faster, easier to deploy and more efficient” for retailers who install the system in their stores.
Amazon’s “primary focus” is selling the technology to third-party businesses and deploying it in small to medium-sized store formats, where the system “tends to generate a little better [return on investment],” Jenkins said. Earlier this year, Amazon also began selling its connected grocery carts to third parties.
Amazon in September announced several new third-party Just Walk Out stores at universities and sports stadiums.
CNBC
At one Just Walk Out store, inside Seattle’s Lumen Field, home to the NFL’s Seahawks, the company said it boosted sales by 112% last season, with 85% more transactions during the course of a game.
“It was awesome that we had our own stores as the laboratory to sort of build and launch this,” Jenkins said. “But over time, like many things at Amazon, the success of this project and the product will depend on third parties adopting the technology. There will always be more third-party stores in the world than there will be first-party stores.”
Amazon has used a similar playbook in in the past. Amazon Web Services, the company’s wildly successful cloud-computing unit, originated from the company’s need for IT infrastructure to support its fast-growing online retail business. And in recent years, Amazon has leveraged its logistics and fulfillment network to provide services for third parties.
With Just Walk Out, Amazon faces the challenge of convincing retailers that they can trust one of their biggest competitors with handling valuable shopper data.
In 2022, Amazon moved the team behind Just Walk Out from its retail organization to AWS. It marked one of the clearest signals yet that Amazon is serious about selling the technology to other retailers, and could help ease some fears among rivals.
“They’re clearly in sales mode,” said Sucharita Kodali, retail analyst at Forrester Research, in an interview.
Kodali said Amazon still has a “long way to go” before the technology is ubiquitous. Getting there will require patience from Amazon investors and data that shows both retailers and shoppers are embracing the technology.
“There’s almost a viral effect that will occur over time,” she said. “It’s just going to take a long time because you’ve got to cycle through everybody in America having this experience, and for the most part, it’s just Amazon fighting this fight right now.”
Watch the video for a behind-the-scenes look at Just Walk Out:
[CNBC]
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Sunday, 06 October 2024 06:43
Google can now lock your stolen Android smartphone automatically and protect personal data
Google just made your Android smartphone a lot more resilient against theft. No, not physically, but if and when the phone is stolen, the new “theft detection lock” ensures the personal data is safe and that the phone is of no use to the thief.
The new feature, currently rolling out to Android smartphone users in the US, was spotted on the recently introduced Xiaomi 14T Pro and was first reported by Mishaal Rahman on Threads. Google is rolling out three major components of theft-related features: theft detection lock, offline device lock, and remote lock.
The new theft detection lock feature uses a machine learning model that can detect when a phone is snatched from a user’s hand and the thief tries to run away on foot or in a vehicle. When detected, the Android smartphone will automatically enter into theft detection lock mode, where the smartphone will get locked instantly, limiting the thief from accessing sensitive information stored on the phone.
Similarly, another feature called offline device lock will also be triggered if a thief tries to disconnect the phone from the internet for an extended period. Lastly, the remote lock feature enables smartphone owners to lock their stolen devices remotely using the Find My Device manager, ensuring users will have control over the data on the locked smartphone.
Google has been testing these beta features since August, and they will be rolled out to all eligible Android smartphones in the next few weeks. These features can be accessed from the Settings & gt; Google > Google Services menu on eligible Android smartphones. Make sure that you are running on the latest version of Google Play services to experience all the latest anti-theft protection features by Google.
[indianexpress]
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Sunday, 06 October 2024 06:25
The private life of Telegram’s founder adds to his troubles
For many of their nearly 10 years as romantic partners, Irina Bolgar said, she and Pavel Durov enjoyed a luxurious lifestyle. The extravagance grew as Telegram, the messaging app Durov created, became a worldwide hit and cemented him as a billionaire and one of the world’s most powerful tech executives.
During the summers, they would spend about $1 million for a month at a 116-acre resort in Sardinia. In Dubai, United Arab Emirates, they stayed in a beachside penthouse with its own elevator. Private planes ferried them to Paris, Italy and Monaco.
But something changed during that period, according to Bolgar, who is now entangled in a legal dispute with Durov. She said he morphed from a principled entrepreneur whom she admired into an increasingly arrogant, controlling and finally abusive adversary.
According to a Swiss criminal complaint Bolgar made last year against Durov, he abused their youngest son five times in 2021 and 2022. On one occasion, Durov struck the child in the back, sending him across the room, she said. In another, he shook him so hard, the boy’s shoes came off. Later, he grabbed the child by the leg and said he would kill him.
The details are included in public documents related to the criminal case, which was previously reported by Forbes. The files do not list the names of Durov, Bolgar and the children, but there are a number of identifying factors, including the case number for a civil child custody complaint made by Bolgar.
A spokesperson for prosecutors in Geneva confirmed that an investigation was underway but declined to comment further. Durov’s spokesperson said in a statement that the incidents “never occurred” and that the accusations “lack substance.”
Bolgar, in a four-hour interview in Geneva, where she now lives with the three children she had with Durov, said she could not elaborate on the child abuse charges because of the investigation. But she provided other details about their relationship, which now threatens to further complicate Durov’s already significant legal troubles in Europe.
In France, Durov faces criminal charges related to the spread of illicit content on Telegram in a case that rocked the tech world. It is one of the first examples of a democratic government holding a top social media leader criminally accountable for what was spread on their platform.
French authorities detained Durov in August after he landed near Paris on a private plane from Azerbaijan. Prosecutors have accused Durov, an outspoken defender of free speech and privacy, of crimes including enabling the distribution of child sexual abuse material, drug trafficking and fraud. He could face years in prison.
Bolgar’s allegations include unpaid child support, according to the documents related to the criminal complaint. That could mean that even if Durov finds a way to overcome the charges in France, he faces further legal trouble elsewhere.
Her account, along with the case she filed against him, also opens a window into the rarefied life of the highly private Durov, who remains one of the world’s least understood tech magnates. Although Telegram has amassed nearly 1 billion users, Durov has avoided the same kind of scrutiny directed at his peers in Silicon Valley. Guessing the loyalties of the Russian-born entrepreneur has become a parlor game among the tech cognoscenti of Russia, where Telegram dominates.
“The carefully crafted image of Durov as a defender of freedom collapses when faced with his personal life,” said Bolgar, a trained lawyer originally from St. Petersburg, Russia. “It reveals a stark contrast between his public declarations of freedom and his private actions.”
Durov’s spokesperson said that Bolgar and Durov had “never been a couple” and that she laid personal claim to millions of dollars he provided as child support and spent profligately on luxury goods and other extravagances.
“Mr. Durov has many children, and he supports each of them equally at a rate of $10,000 per month per child,” the spokesperson wrote in a statement. “Mr. Durov now hopes that the Swiss justice system will resolve this dispute so that the funds misappropriated by Ms. Bolgar can be used for their intended purpose: supporting the children.”
Bolgar denied misusing money she received from Durov.
His comments contrasted with evidence of their relationship provided by Bolgar, including receipts for lavish vacations; a notarized document promising up to 150,000 euros per month in financial support; years of photos that include the couple smiling on a private jet, celebrating birthdays and spending time together in Italy, the UAE, Russia and other locales; as well as other materials.
A former employee of Durov, who saw the two together frequently from 2013 to 2018, described a loving couple who lived in an apartment in central St. Petersburg. The person, who declined to be identified out of fear of retribution, reported seeing Durov give lavish gifts to Bolgar, including Cartier jewelry.
Swiss prosecutors have not decided whether to bring formal charges against Durov. A child protection tribunal in Geneva, however, suspended Durov’s right to personal contact with the children after Bolgar’s complaint. Making a false criminal complaint is illegal under Swiss law and can carry a prison term or a financial penalty.
The spokesperson for Durov said that he became aware of the charges this summer and that he had hired lawyers to “present the true facts to the Swiss authorities.”
Bonding Over Yoga
Bolgar, 44, said she met Durov, 39, through a friend in the summer of 2012 in St. Petersburg. She said their friendship bloomed over a shared interest in yoga. Things turned romantic on a winter holiday at the Burj Al Arab hotel in Dubai. She described him as charming and said she was impressed by his libertarian views.
When they returned to Russia, Bolgar said, they lived together at the W Hotel in St. Petersburg before getting an apartment within walking distance of his company’s headquarters. At the end of 2013, she had their first child.
According to Durov, the relationship was transactional. “Ms. Bolgar, who was Mr. Durov’s yoga coach at the time, suggested to Mr. Durov that they have children together,” his spokesperson said in a statement. “He agreed, and three children were born.”
In the ensuing years, Bolgar said, their continuing romance afforded her a ringside seat as Durov’s career took off. When he began building what would become Telegram in 2013, she said, the two texted each other on an early version of the app. She shared pictures of Durov from this time, almost always dressed in black, hunched over a laptop or phone.
In 2014, Durov sold his stake in his first social media company, VKontakte, claiming he was left with no choice after Russian authorities demanded access to user data that he refused to turn over. As a result, he said, he would leave the country. The story would become an anecdote Durov often repeated to trumpet his commitment to privacy.
Bolgar described the truth as more complicated. After several months outside Russia, Durov returned to the country with Bolgar, despite his public disavowals, she said. The two resumed a life together in St. Petersburg.
“When we decided to come back to Russia, I asked him, ‘So you said you would like not to come back to Russia, but now you have the opposite intention.’ He said, ‘Why not come back to Russia?’” she said.
The spokesperson for Durov said that he lived primarily outside Russia after 2013 but that he had never concealed returns to the country.
Bolgar said Durov was not always truthful. When she asked him about a news report in 2014 that said Durov had a separate family, he denied it. Later, Bolgar learned the truth when the couple’s driver brought a bag of presents to celebrate the new year that seemed to be for Durov’s other family.
“The driver mixed up the lists and brought the gifts for older children,” she said.
Durov has often projected an ascetic persona. But Bolgar said he enjoyed the opulent lifestyle. In one message to her, he mused about the cost of a $20,000-a-night Dubai hotel and which suite to stay in.
“I can do it because I made tens of millions of easy money on bitcoins,” he told her.
He also focused on his image, she said, obsessing over fitness and having a friend who owns an agency representing swimsuit models take photos of him for social media. He told her to “come see how people on the Forbes rich list live” and, another time, sent her a picture of him holding a rented baby lion.
Durov’s spokesperson disputed that Durov lived anything other than an austere life. “Mr. Durov has been consistently critical of the extravagant lifestyles of the ultrawealthy and advocates for creating rather than consuming,” the spokesperson said.
Pressing Charges
Durov’s behavior changed in 2021, Bolgar said. He became psychologically abusive toward her and began to lash out at their children.
“Either you do everything my way and then you have the moral right to complain, or you do everything your own way and don’t complain,” Durov said in 2021.
In April that year, he struck his son, who was 3 at the time, knocking him “across the room,” according to Bolgar’s statement to the police. In November 2021, in Paris, he struck the child again and shook him violently. As a result, the child suffered a concussion and, for several months, experienced bed-wetting and nightmares, according to the complaint.
Around this time, Bolgar said, Durov began asking her to move to Dubai. She refused. She said she was concerned about laws in the UAE, where Durov had become a citizen, that could give the him rights to take custody of the children.
The last time they saw each other was September 2022. She warned him that if he did not change his abusive behavior, she would go to the police. He threatened to cut off financial support. He did, starting in November 2022, she said.
In 2022, Durov said he discovered that Bolgar had abused the use of cards linked to his bank accounts by spending several million dollars on luxury clothes and expensive jewelry. Durov, according to his spokesperson, “believes that the display of excessive wealth is especially harmful to children, as it often diminishes their motivation and creative drive.”
Bolgar, now working as a project manager, said Durov had never complained about her spending habits.
In March 2023, she went to a police station in Geneva to make the official complaint against Durov.
“Why I didn’t do it before? It was quite hard for me to make a complaint against the person who I spent 10 years of my life with,” she said. “It was some inner barrier in my mind I had to jump over to go to police,” she added.
The Geneva Public Prosecutor’s Office initially declined to accept her complaint because it was made more than three months after the most recent violent episode. A court allowed the case to move forward after she appealed. This year, Bolgar also brought a civil child support case against Durov in Switzerland, which seeks nearly 125 million Swiss francs (about $145 million).
In recent months, their dispute spilled onto social media. In July, after Bolgar made her first public comments about Durov being the father of their children, he posted that he had more than 100 children across many countries as a sperm donor.Bolgar responded on Instagram by posting a portrait with herself and the three children. “We must always stay responsible for our children,” she said. “That’s the difference between a sperm donor and a parent.”
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
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Sunday, 06 October 2024 06:23
Rivers LG poll: Nigeria may start experiencing better election without police — Atiku’s aide
Paul Ibe, the spokesman of the 2023 presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Atiku Abubakar, said on Saturday the Rivers State local government election may usher in a new dispensation of better polls without police.
He was reacting to the withdrawal of police from the Rivers local government election.
Posting on X, Ibe wrote: “The withdrawal of the @PoliceNG from today’s #RiversLGAPolls2024 will confirm to the whole world the anti-democratic elements and institutions in Nigeria.
“The outcome of the election may usher in a new regime in which our elections are better off without the police.”
Reports had it that voting went on peacefully in the local government elections in Rivers State despite the police barring officers from providing security for the exercise.
Election officials were seen conducting accreditation and voting simultaneously at a polling unit in Ikoku Area, Units 14 and 15 in Port Harcourt City Ward 18.
Yesterday, the Rivers State Police Command announced its withdrawal from the local government election.
Spokesman of the state police command, SP Grace Iringe-Koko, in a statement titled “Proposed October 5th, 2024 Local Government Chairman Election,” confirmed receiving a restraining order preventing them from providing security during the LGA elections.
The command also said it was aware of the 30th September 2024 Court judgement from the Federal High Court Abuja, which bars the Force from participating in the election.
[DailyPost]
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Sunday, 06 October 2024 06:21
New UAE visa procedure excites Nigerian travellers
Nigerians planning to travel to Dubai can heave a sigh of relief following the resumption of flights to the Middle East country.
It may be recalled that on Independence Day, October 1, 2024, Nigerians witnessed the return of seamless travel between Lagos and Dubai as Emirates Airline resumed its daily flights, marking a new chapter in Nigeria-UAE relations and opening fresh opportunities for Nigerians eager to travel and do business in Dubai.
The Chief Commercial Officer of Emirates, Adnan Kazim, who couldn’t hide his excitement, expressed satisfaction over the development. “We are thrilled to reconnect Nigeria to Dubai and our global network. This route has always been popular, and we’re eager to welcome Nigerians back on board.”
Speaking further he expressed optimism that the resumption of Emirates flights is more than just restored travel, stressing that it’s a symbol of the growing partnership between Nigeria and the UAE. This strengthened connection will unlock new markets, boost tourism, and create jobs, driving mutual prosperity in both countries.
“It’s not just Emirates offering direct flights—Egypt Air and Ethiopian Airlines are also providing convenient options with easy transits through Cairo and Addis Ababa. There’s even talk of Nigeria’s very own Air Peace exploring routes to Dubai soon, offering even more ways to jet off in style.”
[TheNation]
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Sunday, 06 October 2024 06:16
Osimhen wins first Turkish Supe Lig award
Victor Osimhen has carted home his first Turkish Super Lig award soon after joining Galatasaray on a season-long loan from Napoli.
The Nigeria international’s impressive goal against Kasımpaşa has been voted the Goal of the Week by beIN SPORTS, receiving a significant number of votes and securing 77.96% of the total.
Osimhen scored his first goal and followed it up with his first brace, but it was not enough to secure all three points for the Turkish champions, who gave up a three-goal lead to allow the visitors a share of the spoils.
The 25-year-old showcased his skill and decisiveness to volley home with his left foot after receiving a pass from former Napoli teammate Dries Marten to put his team 2-0 up.
Despite missing pre-season due to transfer complications, Osimhen has quickly become a key player for Galatasaray, having been involved in scoring or assisting in all four of his appearances for the club.
He took his season tally to two goals and four assists in four games for the Lions since joining on loan from Napoli.
However, Osimhen is currently sidelined with an injury after a knock he picked up during the league game. He missed the Europa League clash against RFS in Latvia on Wednesday, but his injury is not severe, and he is expected to return soon.
He could be back in action on the weekend when Galatasaray take on Alanyaspor in the Super Lig.
Meanwhile, the former Lille player has revealed the key role Galatasaray manager Okan Buruk played in convincing him to join the club.
“Okan Buruk is the key to my transfer,” Osimhen told A Spor. “I was incredibly impressed when I spoke to him.”
The initial loan deal sees Osimhen at Galatasaray for four months. However, his impressive start has led to speculation of a potential extension.
Despite Osimhen’s loan move, reports suggest Chelsea remains interested in acquiring him.
The Blues are reportedly prepared to offer €90 million for the Nigerian striker in the January transfer window.
[Punch]
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Sunday, 06 October 2024 06:13
How APP cleared 22 seats in Rivers LG election
The Action Peoples Party, APP, has been declared the winner of the Chairmanship seats out of the 23 local government areas of the states in the just concluded local government area councils, Saturday.
The Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission, RSIEC, declared 22 Chairmanship candidates of APP as the winners of the local government after the conclusion of collation.
The Chairman of the Commission, Justice Adolphus Enebeli (rtd) while declaring the results at the RSIEC office in Port Harcourt, said the APP won all the 22 Local Government Area chairmanship positions out of the 23 Local Government.
Enebeli clarified that the result of Etche Local Government Area and the 319 councillorship position would be announced upon conclusion of collation.
The RSIEC chairman said the election was held at 6866 units of the state and that 18 political parties participated in the process.
He commended political parties and Rivers people for their commitment to the election.
Enebeli described the process as smooth, safe and free, fair, credible and transparent, adding that the process was successful.
He said it was violent and most of the treasured LGA polls were conducted in the state despite all odds.
The winners are Vincent Reuben Obu – Abua/Odual, Chibudom Ezu – Ahoada-East, Mr Iyekor Ikporo – Ahoada-West, Mrs. Tonye Oniyide – Akuku-Toru, Lazarus Gogote Nteogwuile – Andoni, Dr. Sule Amachree – Asari-Toru, Dame Anengi Barasua – Bonny, Dr. Harry Agiriye – Degema, Chief Brain Gokpa – Eleme, David Omereji – Emohua.
Others are Monday Dumiye – Gokana, Isreal Abosi – Ikwerre, Martins Nwigbo – Khana, Amb. Chijioke Ihunwo – Obio/Akpor, Prince Isaac Umejuru – Ogba-Egbema-Ndoni, Ishmael Oforibika – Ogu/Bolo, Dr. Igwe Achese – Okrika, Promise Reginald – Omuma, Enyiada Cookey-Gam – Opobo/Nkoro, Gift Okere – Oyigbo, Ezebunwo Ichemati – Port Harcourt and Matthew Nenubari Dike – Tai.
[Vanguard]
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Sunday, 06 October 2024 06:10
BBNaija: It was hard pretending KellyRae and I weren’t married, says Kassia
Kassia Sule, a BBNaija season nine ex-housemate, says it was tough pretending she wasn’t married to KellyRae on the show.
Sule, an entrepreneur, was evicted last Sunday alongside Topher and Ocee.
Formerly in the “Double Kay” pair, the 30-year-old and her husband came into the show as a married couple but only the viewers were privy to that information.
The other housemates were made to believe they were just best friends.
Speaking on how hard to keep up with the ruse, Kassia described it as “difficult” because “physical touch” is one of her “love languages”.
Kassia disclosed that her husband constantly reminded her why they were on the show.
“It was difficult for me. I can’t lie. I am someone that one of my love languages is physical touch. I like to touch him a lot. But being in that space, I could not do that,” she said.
“Even before we went into the house, I thought about it. How am I going to cope? Sometimes I forget myself but KellyRae always reminds me, ‘You know why we are here. Don’t do this, don’t do that, make sure you don’t lose guard.’ That helped me out.”
Speaking on their decision to hide such information from their fellow housemates, Kassia said a friend came up with the idea.
Kassia added that they wanted the other housemates to associate with them without seclusion based on marital status.
“It was not like a strategy at first. It was more like, let us go in and let the housemates be free with us,” she added.
“You know, there is this certain respect they accord married people in the house. A lot of us could not dance with Tjay because he was married. So we did not want that and we achieved that.”
[TheCable]
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Sunday, 06 October 2024 06:07
[OPINION] With Neither Fanfare Nor Flourish: For Yakubu Gowon at 90 - Chidi Amuta
![[OPINION] With Neither Fanfare Nor Flourish: For Yakubu Gowon at 90 - Chidi Amuta](/media/k2/items/cache/9758249f2b7f3f949274cd7a2c6d0d16_Generic.jpg)
Between 1967 and 1970, Nigeria narrowly escaped the misfortune of going into oblivion. An unnecessary war was raging here. People were dying on an industrial scale, from bullets and hunger. Most of the deaths were unaccounted for. Some inconsequential people emerged from the mayhem as war heroes and illustrious generals. What the British cobbled together in 1914 stood a clear chance of unraveling through the recklessness of politicians and the crass indiscipline and rascality of ambitious young army officers. Above it all, one man literally stood between a nation and its demise. General Yakubu Gowon stood sentry between the demise of a nation and its survival and reinvention into a new reality. On the 19th of this month, General Yakubu Gowon turns 90, an occasion that deserves both personal and national celebration. It is also a milestone for recalling, especially to younger generations, General Gowon’s often forgotten historical significance in our nation.
Nigerian history suffers a habitual amnesia. We tend to forget important things and celebrate the ephemeral and inconsequential. For some reason, General Gowon has not been sufficiently acknowledged or sufficiently celebrated. This great statesman and exemplary African soldier has neither been sufficiently acknowledged nor adequately celebrated. The Nigerian military institution which produced him has not sufficiently memorialized him. The civil populace has not quite adopted him as a Nigerian equivalent of America’s Abraham Lincoln.
Instead, it is those officers who came into national prominence and leadership under his command that have assumed colossal national political leadership since the end of the war. In the post civil war era, the trend of political succession tempted many to think that the return of Nigerian democracy was all about using political leadership to express gratitude to war time generals. Obasanjo returned to power as an elected president. Buhari did the same. Babangida almost did. Many others aspired but did not quite get there. Among political pundits, there was an emerging postulation that the war time general was a new typology of political leadership in Africa’s quest for democratic leadership in the post military era.
In this tradition, Gowon never featured as a favourite possibility. He has also not been acknowledged by corporate Nigeria either even as a honorary member of a blue chip company. Even in a nation where religion has become an industry and prayer a cure-all, none of the nation’s industrial Pentecostal conglomerates has adopted Gowon as either a mascot or figurative inspiration.
Somehow, in a society that erects past leaders into social icons and living deities, Gowon has hardly featured either as a media favourite nor as a political mascot. The reasons may be implicit in the man’s very character. Gowon is not even a “Chief” in a nation where chieftaincy titles are lavishly dished out to miscreants by equally vagrant vagabonds! Gowon has not been seen taking to the dance floor to dance and entertain. His modest personal home in Plateau state has hardly been mentioned as an architectural landmark on any scale. It is on record that the house is a donation, made possible by the charity of associates and friends who were ashamed on his behalf many years ago. He has not been seen receiving political pilgrims as a political oracle. He has not featured profusely on the board list of blue chip companies. Nor has he been mentioned as a recipient of many oil wells. Even in the realm of his more serious carriage, I am not yet aware of too many universities named after Yakubu Gowon. Even though he went ahead to cap his political and historical achievement with a doctorate degree after office, Gowon has not been traversing the globe lecturing everyone else on nation building, leadership and post war reconciliation, areas in which he is eminently super qualified.
In all fairness, General Gowon has not quite made himself available for popular adoption as either a political, social or economic icon. To the best of my knowledge, Gowon has neither formed nor joined any political party. He had not even advocated or canvassed any known political viewpoint in our noisy national supermarket of changing political standpoints. Somehow, he has managed to stay above the fray of political regionalism and partisan … Yet, the theology of national unity on which he led the nation and prosecuted the civil war remains the most unassailable political idea that should power a truly nationalist political party or movement.
On the contrary, General Gowon has chosen the path of genteel honour in the classic tradition of the ‘officer and gentleman’. More the statesman and nationalist than a partisan figure, he has reached out to his civil war adversaries- Ojukwu before his death, Wole Soyinka etc.- while maintaining his dignified distance from his more controversial former subordinates.
More importantly, General Gowon has played above the fray of Nigeria’s rough and tumble political partisanship. In a period of all manner of extremism, Gowon has remained the eternal moderate. Instead, General Gowon has remained above the kind of rabid partisan political alignment that has torn the nation apart in recent times. He has remained more of the balanced non- partisan , and calming statesman who is respected and revered all over the country.
General Gowon answered the call of the nation when we needed him most. Our fate was hanging on a delicate balance. Our unity in diversity was in peril. The institutions of our nationhood and cohesion were threatened to breaking point by the vicious forces of sectionalism and bad politics. The forces of division overwhelmed those of cohesion. Tragedy beckoned. Conflicting allegiances broke into open conflict. Blood flowed across the land. Above the carnage of war and the booms of the guns of clashing armies, the nation was in dire need of restorative leadership.
Historic necessity and circumstantial providence chose him as a vehicle for the restoration of national unity and healing. As Head of State and Commander in Chief of the armed forces of a war-torn Nigeria, General Gowon rose to the occasion of the historic challenges of the moment.
The soldier in him had to fight a war to save his nation. As a statesman, he had to reunite a nation that was unraveling under his watch. As the leader of a nation engulfed by the flames of war and the fire of hate, General Yakubu Gowon’s tasks were defined by the moment. He had to mend the broken bonds of neighbourliness and communal harmony.
Over and above the clashing weapons of war and the raging cries of agony, over and above the bleeding wounds of conflict and the breakdown of communal harmony, General Gowon’s voice rose with a clarion call: “To Keep Nigeria One is a Task that Must be Done.” The world heard him. His field commanders obeyed his order. The combatants saw reason and heeded his call.
In January 1970, the combatants in our civil war bent their swords towards peace and were swayed by Gowon’s logic. Warriors on both sides sheathed their swords and calm returned to our troubled land. The broken bonds of national unity began to mend. Reconciliation replaced animosity as adversaries reunited as neighbours. General Gowon had scored a historic vindication. His leadership doctrine of the pursuit of peace and harmony through necessary means prevailed.
It is a tribute to General Gowon that Nigeria was rescued from the brinks of disintegration and returned to the path of unity and nation building. An atmosphere of mutual respect and true reconciliation in peace returned. For this great achievement, General Gowon ranks highly among the great war leaders and peace builders of the world like Abraham Lincoln, Winston Churchill and Rwanda’s Paul Kagame. He replaced tears with smiles of survival, hate receded and yielded for reconciliation.
It is to Yakubu Gowon’s credit that the Nigerian civil war ended without leaving a bloody trail of residual armed conflict, lingering bitterness and pockets of hate. Under his post war policy of Reconciliation, Rehabilitation and Reconstruction, a nation previously torn by the devastation of conflict and the tragic loss of lives embraced national unity and the restoration of harmonious communal living. The world has since acknowledged the management of the end of the Nigerian civil war as a global example of conflict resolution and post war healing.
It remains remarkable that even after the civil war, General Gowon did not see the end of the war as the end of the unfinished task of nation building. He instead resumed the uncompleted task of nation building from where our founding fathers left off. There was the urgent necessity to redress the structural imbalance of our federation which had bred the regional inequities that helped to produce the subsequent civil war. He adopted the state structure as a cardinal innovation to realign the federation by diminishing the power of regions.
Beyond this urgent political imperative, General Gowon realized that post -war Nigeria was a ‘new’ nation that needed to be prepared for new roles in a new and fast changing world. To strengthen the bonds of national unity, General Gowon initiated some national unity programmes some of which have remained part of the architecture of our nationhood till today. These include the introduction of the National Your Service Corp (NYSC) Scheme, the Unity Schools system, the Federal Character principle and the unified national command for the national military and the police.
Above all else, General Gowon was a visionary leader. He saw Nigeria beyond the resolution of the war. In preparation for a new, more modern nation, General Gowon introduced an indigenous national currency, the Naira to replace the colonial relic of the British Pound. To bring Nigeria in line with its regional socio economic environment, he initiated the switch of Nigeria from left hand drive to right hand drive which brought the country in line with the trend among its Franco-phone neighbours. To crown his efforts of regional integration in West Africa, General Gowon was one of the pioneer leaders that established the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in 1973.
General Gowon, even out of office, has remained a committed leader and statesman. Out of office, he has spent decades as an agent of peace and harmony. His prayer movement “Nigeria Prays” has continued to inspire Nigerian Christians, irrespective of ethnicity and region , to see the power of prayer in guiding human affairs. He has gone about this endeavour without the fanatical sectarianism that has come to characterize the faith sector of Nigerian social life.
It is a testimony to the impeccable credibility of this remarkable citizen that his name still continues to evoke respect across generations and sections of Nigerians. As a result, he has escaped the hostile branding and extremist perceptions that greet most Nigerians leaders of his age and generation. He has no labels or badges except those of honour as a leader who is acknowledged as the father of a reunified Nigeria. It is generally acknowledged that without his statesmanship and remarkable leadership, Nigeria would have been a different and perhaps worse place than the nation we know today.
Or, worse still, there would have been no Nigeria today as we have come to know it. Therefore, as he turns 90, we need to welcome General Yakubu Gowon into the pantheon of those human deities that have made Nigeria possible and enduring even with its imperfections.
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