RUSSIA: Senior Russian officials blast US sanctions as ineffective, myopic.

Russian lawmakers have commented on a US State Department promise to keep sanctions against Russia in force, calling such policies shortsighted and reminding Americans that sanctions on Cuba yielded no results despite being in force for half a century.

“If the USA learned nothing from the disastrous experience of their 55-year sanctions against Cuba, they can enjoy their sanctions against Russia over Crimea for 55 more years,” the chairman of the State Duma Committee for International Relations, Aleksey Pushkov (United Russia), tweeted on Wednesday.

The MP went on to point at inconsistency of the American foreign policy as the US manages to simultaneously condemn the “demarcation of state borders by force methods” while supporting Kosovo’s breakup from Serbia, starting a war in Iraq or delivering airstrikes on Syria.

Алексей Пушков
‎@Alexey_Pushkov

Если США ничему не научил провальный опыт 55 лет санкций пр. Кубы, то они могут еще 55 лет наслаждаться своими санкциями пр. России по Крыму

The comment came soon after the spokesman for the US State Department, John Kirby, told reporters that his country would maintain the anti-Russian sanctions until the “occupation” of the Crimean Peninsula is over. He also said that the United States did not recognize the referendum on Crimea’s reunification with Russia two years back.

Russian upper house Speaker Valentina Matviyenko called the fresh US statement “short-sighted, unfounded and faulty.” She added that the results of the 2014 referendum in Crimea were irreversible.

“The referendum was held strictly in accordance with international law and there is nothing above the will of the people. This is why there can be no discussion over the very possibility of change in the Russian position on Crimea or returning this republic to anyone,” the Russian official said on Wednesday.
Two years ago the Crimean Republic became part of the Russian Federation after over 96 percent of its residents – the majority of whom are ethnic Russians – supported the move in an urgently-called referendum. The decision was prompted by the ousting of the democratically-elected president of Ukraine and installation of nationalists-backed regime that almost immediately started a war against pro-Russian regions in the southeast.

On Wednesday Crimea will mark the second anniversary of the referendum with a major rally in its capital, Simferopol. At least 1,500 people are expected to participate in this event.

SOURCE: https://www.rt.com

PARIS: 4 Islamist radicals arrested for planning imminent terror attack in Paris

French anti-terrorism police have arrested four Islamist radicals on suspicion that they were planning an imminent terror attack in central Paris, TF1 television reported.
The suspects, three women and four men, were detained at dawn in Paris and the nearby suburb of Seine-Sant Denis. Security forces reportedly had files on each person for their Islamist ties.

Police also seized an unused cartridge for a Kalashnikov rifle, an alarm pistol, computer equipment, and a safe during the arrests.

Among the suspects are Aytac and Ercan B., two French brothers of Turkish origin, and E. Youssef, an Islamist well-known to authorities.
Youssef, 28, was previously arrested at Saint-Etienne airport with two accomplices in 2014, on charges that they were planning to travel to Syria to fight as terrorists.

He was initially sentenced to five years, but was released in October 2015. He had been on house arrest until February 29.
It comes just one day after a terrorism suspect was shot dead by police while firing at officers during a raid in Brussels.
Paris remains on high alert following the November 13 terror attacks while left 130 people dead.

SOURCE: https://www.rt.com

FOOTBALL: Messi sets new Champions League record against Arsenal

Another game and another record set by Lionel Messi - this time at the expense of Arsenal.

The Argentine capped off a 3-1 victory on Wednesday evening with a stunning scooped finish from close range, although the goal of the night was Luis Suarez’s sublime effort to put Barcelona 2-1 up.

But Messi’s goal was his ninth against Arsenal in the Champions League - and no other player in the competition’s history has scored more against a single opponent.

SOURCE: GOAL.COM

TERROR: Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghred releases photos of perpetrators of the attack at Ivory Coast hotel

Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb's (AQIM) has released photos of the perpetrators of the attack that left 18 people dead at the Grand-Bassam beach resort in Ivory Coast on Sunday, March 13.

According to Reuters, the gunmen drank beer at a bar in the resort before launching the attack. 

An eyewitness, Christian Eddy said four men arrived in a Ford saloon car at the beachside bar where he works, around noon. While two remained outside, the two others entered and drank beers for around a half hour. Then they launched the attack.

"They didn't speak French. They spoke Arabic. We communicated with them in English. The guys who were still outside started shooting and the two seated at the table yelled 'Allahu Akbar' and flipped over the table,"

Fifteen civilians and three members of the special forces were killed and 33 people were wounded. Interior Minister Hamed Bakayoko said another 26 wounded are still receiving medical treatment. President Alassaane Quattara declared three days of mourning for the country.

SOURCE: http://www.lindaikejisblog.com

WORLD NEWS: Did Russia Just Broker A Deal To Exempt Iran From Oil Freeze?

Bilateral talks between Russia and Iran on Monday left multilateral negotiations on the proposed “production freeze” at an impasse.  Unable to persuade Tehran to join in capping production, Russia has thrown its weight behind Iran’s asserted right to restore shut-in production and recover lost market share.

On Wednesday, Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak held a telephone conference with his Saudi and Qatari counterparts to discuss the meeting in Tehran.  Having initiated the “freeze” talks, Moscow has now likely told Riyadh that reaching a final deal would require either excluding Iran all together or making special concessions to bring Iran on board.

As I suggested in my last posting, Russia’s implied strategy is to broker an “individual solution” that either grants Iran an exemption or offers a ceiling that accommodates gradual production increases but with reciprocal guarantees that Iran will smooth oil exports.

According to a statement issued by Qatar Minister of Energy and Industry Mohammedbin Saleh al-Sada, the next round of talks will be held in Doha on April 17, with an expected 15 OPEC and non-OPEC producers (accounting for 73% of globally supply) in attendance. Qatar is signaling that, even without Iran’s full participation, a deal would still have sufficient support among major producers to restore market confidence.  The minister emphasized that the proposed production freeze, which Qatar has labeled the “Doha Initiative,” had establish a price floor after oil fell to a 12-year low in mid-January.

Given the positive market sentiment surrounding the talks, major supporters are unlikely to backtrack on the proposal. Instead, they will seek to maintain control of the narrative by projecting an image of ongoing constructive dialogue. News of the outcome of the meeting in Tehran on Monday that Iran had balked at capping its production sent oil retreating below the newfound $40 price floor. In Wednesday’s trading however, the market responded positively to reports that major producers would proceed to meet in April.

If Iran continues to hold out, then the prospect of finalizing a deal in mid-April will likely hinge on securing Iraq’s participation as well as rest on assumptions that Iranian oil exports increases will be much more gradual than previously anticipated.

However, Iraq’s Oil Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi has clearly stated that Iraq is willing to participate in the freeze only if there is “complete agreement.”  This is because Iraq, which is OPEC’s second largest producer after Saudi Arabia, has effectively replaced a significant portion of  Iran’s shut-in crude since sanctions were imposed in 2011. Capping its production while Iran is left unchecked to ramp up production and exports would allow Iran to recapture lost market share in Europe and Asia from Iraq.

Iraq has emerged as the main source of OPEC supply growth, representing 75% of the cartel’s production growth in 2015. Iraq was the world’s second largest supplier of liquids in 2015 behind the United States, producing an average of 4.0 million barrels per day with nearly 700,000 barrel a day annual gain. Iraqi oil exports are expected to reach 3.6 million barrels per day in 2016.

SOURCE: http://www.forbes.com

Harrison Ford under fire for holding Donald Trump sign... See The Real Pic after the cut.

So this photo of actor, Harrison Ford, holding Donald Trump sign went viral but it isn't what it seems like. A lot of people shared the photo, some insulted Harrison Ford for supporting Trump while some praised him for his support. Check out what the real photo says...

It’s actually a Photoshop of a photo Harrison Ford posted to Reddit last year.

NIGERIA: FG permits SON to jail substandard product dealers for 10yrs without the option of a fine(and FOREIGNERS)

The Federal Government has given authorization to Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON) to imprison dealers who sell substandard products. They said SON has the authorization to jail defectors for ten years. SON has since started with Tyre dealers. They have given a 24 hours ultimatum to tyre dealers all over the country to destroy every fake tyre in their stock or face 10 years imprisonment without any option of a fine.
Acting Director General of SON, Dr. Paul Angya, gave the ultimatum at a stakeholder’s forum for tyre dealers in Lagos, stating. He said fake tyres have been the leading cause of several deaths in the country based on a recent report by the Road Safety Commission. Adding that out of 8,986 accidents recorded in 2015, 722 were due to tyre bursts, which has led to the death of 446 persons
He said:

“Our new Act 2015 empowered us to jail promoters of sub-standard product up to 10 years and we will not relent to jail any culprit. ‘’We are going to stamp out corruption among the tyre dealers, “we are going to set up a taskforce and we will not sleep until we confirm that accidents in the country are not traced to substandard tyres again.”

“We are ready to eliminate importation of sub-standard products into Nigeria, because of this we have reached out to other government agencies to ensure that we work together and stop smugglers of fake products into the country.

“If you have fake tyre in your shop make sure you disposed them in the next 24 hours, thereafter our team will visit you and we will charge you for murderer. “To eliminate corruption from SON, we are going to introduce e-payment, e-invoice and e-receipt to stamp out corruption from the system,”

He said the organization is also working on improving the standard of products that are sold to consumers.
Adding:

“To ease our work and improve quality of goods and products in Nigeria, we are working to improve expansion of SON facilities across the country so that people in Sokoto will not travel to Maiduguri to text their products”

“What many of our farmers do before they can take their products to abroad is to first take it to Ghana laboratory for text, once the goods pass through text in Ghana the products will send to abroad in the name of Ghana and Ghana government will take the glory.”

SOURCE: http://www.lindaikejisblog.com 

How many girls are in this picture?

This entry photo shared by Tiziana Vergari of Switzerland was featured by Instagram.  She captioned it: "Same but different", but what's got everyone talking is the number of girls they think are in the photo. What do you think?

USA: 'Exit this race within 24 hours or we will release all we have found.'- hackers threaten U.S presidential candidate Ted Cruz

Today, an individual purporting to be a representative of the hacker group Anonymous posted a disturbing Twitter video that threatened to expose 'very dirty secrets' of U.S Presidential candidate Ted Cruz including information about Cruz ‘visiting prostitutes!’

“Your lying during this presidential campaign has gotten out of control,” the video begins. A voice alleges, “You have committed voter fraud to steal votes that do not belong to you … The fraud you have committed against Mr. [Ben]Carson will not be tolerated.”

“Anonymous will not let this go without repercussions or consequences,” the video states. “We will not sit and watch the citizens of America fall for it any longer.” “Almost every word that comes out of your mouth is a complete lie … and you, Mr. Cruz, have been hiding behind some very dirty secrets that lie beneath the surface … secrets that you believed would never haunt you.” “It’s time that we tell America what’s hiding behind the curtain,” the voice states, taunting, “… Do you recall visiting prostitutes?” (The clip offers no suggestion or proof that Cruz actually did consort with hookers, however.) Finally, the video ends with an ultimatum: “Mr. Cruz, we are now demanding that you exit this race within 24 hours, or Anonymous will release all of the information we have found … Your so-called underground hacks that you think were done in the dark will be brought out for all the public to see …Your disgusting behavior … will go viral on every social media platform.”

SOURCE: http://www.lindaikejisblog.com 

NORTH KOREA: North Korea sentences US student to 15 years in prison with hard labour for stealing propanganda material

North Korea today, March 16 sentenced an American student, Otto Warmbier, to 15 years of hard labor for crimes against the state. The sentence was handed down by North Korea's Supreme Court.

Warmbier, a 21-year-old University of Virginia student, was detained in January for trying to steal an item bearing a political slogan from his hotel in the capital Pyongyang. 

Warmbier, who is from the city of Wyoming in Ohio, said that his crime "is very severe and pre-planned."

"I entirely beg you and the government of DPRK for your forgiveness,” a tearful Warmbier said at a press conference in February. “Please, I’ve made the worst mistake of my life. But please act to save me."

Warmbier was arrested on January 2 after he was detained by immigration officials. Warmbier was returning to China after wrapping up a five-day tour to DPRK along with other tourists, according to the tour operator that arranged the trip. 

There was no immediate confirmation by North Korean state media of the sentence which appeared to come just hours after veteran US diplomat Bill Richardson reportedly met with two diplomats from North Korea's UN office to press for Warmbier's release.

SOURCE: LINDAIKEJISBLOG.COM