Cyprus court orders Egyptian hijacker extradited

A Cyprus court on Friday approved a request from the Egyptian government to extradite a man who hijacked a domestic EgyptAir flight with a fake suicide belt and diverted it to Cyprus.
Judge Dona Constantinou ordered that Egyptian Seif Eddin Mustafa be extradited within 10 days and remain in police custody until then. Mustafa’s lawyer Robertos Brahimis told The Associated Press that he’s been instructed by his client to appeal the decision.
Mustafa claims he hijacked the EgyptAir jet in March to underscore the wrongs done by Egypt’s military-backed government and that he meant no harm to anyone. The hijack ended peacefully after all 72 passengers and crew were released and Mustafa was arrested.
Mustafa has fought his extradition, saying he fears that he could be tortured or even killed at the hands of Egyptian authorities if he’s sent back.
But Constantinou rejected Mustafa’s argument, saying the 59-year-old had opted to stay in Egypt

Stolen Van Gogh paintings found in Camorra mafia raid

Police carrying out a crackdown on the Camorra mafia clan have recovered two Van Gogh painting stolen 14 years ago.
The masterpieces – Congregation Leaving the Reformed Church in Nuene and View of the Sea at Scheveningen – were painted by the Dutch artist early in his career.
“They’re safe,” said Van Gogh Museum director Axel Rueger.
“I no longer dared to hope that I could ever say that, after so many years.”
The Amsterdam museum said the canvasses had been removed from their frames, but appeared to have suffered only slight damage and be in “relatively good condition”.
The museum said a patch of paint in the lower left corner Scheveningen painting had been chipped off, while the other work appears undamaged.
However, further examination is needed, it said.

Angola rebels claim killing 18 government soldiers

Angolan rebels of the Front for the Liberation of the Enclave of Cabinda (FLEC) have claimed killing 18 government troops.
The separatist guerrillas fighting for the independence of the northern province of Cabinda said Thursday they had killed the 18 in the oil-rich enclave, rising the death toll to around 50 since August.
In a statement, FLEC said clashes with the Angolan army took place last week at Makumeni Village in Buco Zau municipality soon after the Portuguese ambassador to Angola visited the province.
A war territory
“We keep on alerting and informing the public and the international community that Cabinda is a

Netanyahu calls Peres ‘great man of the world’ in funeral eulogy

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hailed Nobel Peace Prize winner Shimon Peres as a “great man of the world” on Friday and promised there would be peace as he eulogised him at his funeral.
“Shimon lived a life of purpose,” Netanyahu told world leaders and other mourners gathered at Jerusalem’s Mount Herzl cemetery of the man who was once his political rival.
“He soared to incredible heights. He was a great man of Israel; he was a great man of the world. Israel grieves for him, the world grieves for him, but we find hope in his legacy, as does the world.”
He recalled a late-night discussion between them in which they debated Israel’s future.

Pope embarks on peace mission to Caucusus

Pope Francis set off Friday for Georgia and Azerbaijan on what Vatican officials billed as a mission to promote peace in a troubled part of the world, three months after he visited Armenia.
“The holy father will be bringing a message of peace and reconciliation for the whole Caucusus region,” his spokesman Greg Burke told reporters. The official theme of the trip is “Pax vobis” (peace for you).
After taking off from Rome just after 0700 GMT, Francis was due to touch down four hours later in Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia, a country with one of the oldest Christian traditions in the world.
He will be greeted there by President Giorgi Margvelashvili and the current leader of the Georgian

Mugabe owns at least 14 farms in Zimbabwe – opposition

Zimbabwe’s opposition, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) has reportedly accused President Robert Mugabe of owning more than 14 farms, in a development seen as contravening the country’s constitution on land.
According to New Zimbabwe, the PDP, which is led by former finance minister Tendai Biti, said that Mugabe owned vast tracks of land, which included his dairy farm Gushungo Dairies, Gushungo Estate as well as Mazowe Iron Mask estate.
PDP spokesperson, Jacob Mafume claimed that Mugabe had failed to reign in on corruption because he was also deeply involved in unfair distribution of resources.
He said that this was a direct contravention of Section 293 subsection 2 of the country’s constitution, which stated that: “the state may not alienate more than one piece of agricultural

Egyptian court blocks cancellation of islands transfer

An Egyptian court has blocked the cancellation of an Egyptian-Saudi pact under which Cairo will transfer control of two Red Sea islands to Riyadh.
Thursday’s ruling came in response to a June verdict by another court that annulled the agreement reached during a visit to Egypt in April by Saudi Arabia’s monarch, King Salman.

Gabon opposition leader rejects Bongo’s presidency

Gabon’s opposition leader Jean Ping on Thursday called for national talks to form a “new republic” and urged foreign powers to impose sanctions on allies of President Ali Bongo, sworn in this week after a disputed election in the oil-producing nation.
Ping remained intransigent during his speech in the capital Libreville, saying he refused to recognise Bongo’s presidency.
But his appeal for dialogue — albeit on his own terms — could help usher in a return to normal

World leaders bid farewell to 20th-century ‘giant’ Peres

World leaders bid farewell to Israeli elder statesman and Nobel Peace laureate Shimon Peres at his funeral in Jerusalem Friday, with US President Barack Obama hailing him as a giant of the 20th century.
Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas was among the mourners at the city’s Mount Herzl national cemetery and was seated in the front row, reportedly at the request of Peres’s family.
Abbas knew Peres well and negotiated with him. In an extremely rare move, he shook hands and spoke briefly with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu upon arrival.
Security forces were on high alert, with roads closed and thousands of officers deployed.
Some 70 countries were represented, with the range of leaders illustrating the respect Peres gained over the years in his transformation from hawk to committed peace advocate.
“In many ways he reminded me of some other giants of the 20th century that I had the honour to meet: men like Nelson Mandela, women like Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth,” said Obama, who wore a black Jewish skullcap.
Peres’s death on Wednesday at the age of 93 drew tributes from around the world for Israel’s last

Thinking inside the box

This file photo taken on July 14, 2016 in Washington, DC, shows International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde speaking at the Center for Global Development marking the 15th anniversary of the Center.(AFP)

The on-going drama in idea-generation for sourcing funds for fiscal stimulus is exciting! Act 1, Scene,1: Tony Blair persuaded President Muhammadu Buhari to use Eurobonds to avoid the inherited looming financial disaster before May 29, 2015. PMB was lukewarm. Act 1, Scene 2: Christine Lagarde presented IMF-template for Nigeria’s economic revival in Q4, 2015. PMB was taciturn.
Act 2, Scene 1, PMB started global campaign for recovering looted funds in Q1 with poor concrete response. Act 2, Scene 2: Works, Power and Housing minister proposed use of idle pension funds for infrastructural development in Q1. Act 2, Scene 3: Finance Minister told Washington journalist that Nigeria was not eager for IMF loan in Q1. Act 2, Scene 4: Femi Falana (SAN) petitioned Federal Government to recover $66.5 billion debts instead of external loans in Q1.
Act 3, Scene 1: orchestrated campaign against PMB’s “medieval economic policies” of pegging exchange rate by political economists/activists/monarch (sponsored canvassers of SAP Phase II?) in Q2. Act 3, Scene 2: PMB succumbed to pressure on removal of oil subsidies and devaluation in Q2 through which “about N920 billion has been “conservatively” lost with respect to the debt stock” (The Guardian 26/09/16) with devastating impact on exchange, inflation and interest rates with automatic upsurge in hunger and poverty among the citizenry. Act 3, Scene 3: Nigeria’s

Trump accused of Cuba embargo breach

Hillary Clinton says presidential rival Donald Trump appears to have violated US laws, after a report said he broke a trade embargo with Cuba.
‘Newsweek’ reports that Trump’s company secretly conducted business in Cuba, violating the US trade embargo against the country.
The company allegedly spent at least $68,000 (£52,300) in Cuba in 1998.
Trump’s spokesman Kellyanne Conway said the money was not paid, and that he was against deals with Cuba.
Trump has also repeatedly said he had rejected offers to invest in Cuba.
The ‘Newsweek’ report says Trump’s company funnelled the cash through a US consulting firm to make it appear legal.
Mrs Clinton said: “We have laws in our country, and the efforts that Trump was making to get into the Cuban market – putting his business interests ahead of the laws of the United States and the requirements that businesses were operating under with sanctions shows that he puts his

Saudi Arabia condemns passage of US 9/11 law

Saudi Arabia has condemned a recently-passed US law allowing the families of the victims of the September 11, 2001 attacks to sue the Saudi government.
The US Congress voted overwhelmingly on Wednesday to override President Barack Obama’s veto of the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act (JASTA) on relations between states.
JASTA allows attack survivors and relatives of victims to pursue cases against foreign governments in US federal court and to demand compensation if such governments are proven to bear some responsibility for attacks on American soil.
In a statement on Thursday, the Saudi government said the enactment of the law was a matter “of great concern” and called on the US Congress “to avoid the serious unintended consequences that may ensue”, without elaborating on what the consequences might be.

Philippine’s Duterte cites Hitler, wants to kill millions of addicts

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has appeared to compare himself to Adolf Hitler, saying he would be “happy to slaughter” millions of drug addicts just like Nazi Germany killed three million Jews.
“Hitler massacred three million Jews … there’s three million drug addicts. There are. I’d be happy to slaughter them,” Duterte said early on Friday on his arrival in Davao City after a visit to Vietnam.
“If Germany had Hitler, the Philippines would have…,” he said, pausing and pointing to himself, according to AFP news agency.
While Hitler’s victims were innocent people, Duterte said his targets were “all criminals” and that getting rid of them would “finish the (drug) problem of my country and save the next generation from perdition”.
Historians say that ix million Jews were killed by the Nazis under Hitler before and during World War II.

Israelis, world leaders gather for Peres funeral

Israelis, along with dignitaries from around the world, were gathering in Jerusalem on Friday for the funeral of former President Shimon Peres.
US President Barack Obama, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, French President Francois