Nigerian to Hang in Malaysia for Marijuana Trafficking

 
 A Nigerian college student was sentenced to death by hanging in Malaysia after being found guilty of trafficking 26.533kg, or 58.5 pounds, of cannabis on Wednesday.
Uchechukwu Nelson Ohaechesi, 37, was arrested on October 17, 2010 in Cheras, a suburb of Malaysia’s capital city of Kuala Lumpur, near the stairwell of an overhead bridge that crosses the Taman Connaught Highway.
He was charged under Section 39B(1)(a) of the Dangerous Drugs Act of 1952, which carries a mandatory death sentence upon conviction for trafficking.

Hopkins pays $190M in pelvis exam pix settlement

A "rogue" gynecologist who used tiny cameras to secretly record videos and photos of his patients has forced one of the world's top medical centers to pay $190 million to 8,000 women and girls.
Dr. Nikita Levy was fired after 25 years with the Johns Hopkins Health System in Baltimore in February 2013 after a female co-worker spotted the pen-like camera he wore around his neck and alerted authorities.
Levy committed suicide days later, as a federal investigation led to roughly 1,200 videos and 140 images stored on computers in his home.

"All of these women were brutalized by this," said their lead attorney, Jonathan Schochor. "Some of these women needed counseling, they were sleepless, they were dysfunctional in the workplace, they were dysfunctional at home, they were dysfunctional with their mates. This breach of trust, this betrayal — this is how they felt."
The preliminary settlement approved by a judge Monday is one of the largest on record in the U.S. involving sexual misconduct by a physician. It all but closes a case that never produced criminal charges but seriously threatened Hopkins' reputation.
Lawyers said thousands of women were traumatized, even though their faces were not visible in the images and it could not be established with certainty which patients were recorded or how many. Schochor said it would be impossible and only cause more distress to "sit around a table and try to identify sexual organs without pictures of faces."

World Cup 2014: Brazil's meltdown caught us by surprise

 
It is not about words. Sometimes there are no words to describe what we witnessed. I find myself virtually speechless in writing this
It is a gut feeling. It is one of absolute shock. One of devastating emptiness. As I write, I am almost numb with disbelief at what transpired in the first semifinal. No one in their right mind could possibly have predicted such a meltdown for a country so rightly proud of its football tradition.
In Brazil, football is life. Germany just murdered it in cold blood and got away with the crime.

Poor defending 

In truth, the hosts committed football suicide. The defending for the opening goal in Belo Horizonte set the tone. Thomas Müller was never going to refuse the gift of an early goal and the subsequent die was cast. The avalanche of four goals in six minutes ended the contest long before the half hour mark.

KIDNAP OF UMARU DIKKO:30 YEARS AFTER

I have been revisiting the controversial attempt to kidnap Umaru Dikko in 1984.  Dikko was one of the most powerful and notorious figures in the government of President Shagari between 1979 and 1983.  This is the concluding part of the series which recounts the circumstances, timing and details of the kidnap. 

 

Mossad boss Nahum Admoni felt that London was the most likely hideaway for Dikko.  London was a favourite haunt of Nigerian fugitives from justice.  They were typically Anglophile and had residences in the most affluent areas of London.  Some Mossad agents set up base in London along with Nigerian Major (retired) Mohammed Ahmadu Jarfa Yusufu.  Yusufu was a 40 year old former army officer.  After the military coup that overthrew Shagari he was transferred to the Nigerian Ministry of External Affairs and posted to Nigeria’s High Commission in the UK on May 1984.  Although Yusufu entered the UK on a diplomatic passport, the UK’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office was not notified that he was a member of the Nigerian diplomatic mission.  Clearly, he had been planted for the specific purpose of taking part in the Dikko operation. 

 

Two separate groups of undercover agents worked underground among London’s Nigerian community.  The search was narrowed to west London where many Nigerian officials had opulent residences purchased with embezzled Nigerian state funds.  The Dikko trail seemed to be running cold until a chance encounter during the summer of 1984.  On June 30, 1984 a Mossad agent spotted a man fitting Dikko’s description in London’s wealthy Bayswater neighbourhood.  The agent surreptitiously followed Dikko on foot to a house at number 49 Porchester Terrace.  For several days the house was continuously watched by the agents, and Dikko’s routine and movements were noted. 

 

Logistics

 

The plans for Dikko’s capture were assembled by a small team.  It involved making arrangements to capture, anaesthetise, and then transport Dikko out of the UK to Nigeria to face trial.  Dr Levi-Arie Shapiro was a 43 year old Israeli national, a consultant and director of the intensive care unit at Hasharon hospital in Tel Aviv.  “Lou” Shapiro was also a reserve Major in the Israeli army.  Shapiro was recruited into the plot by a 27 year old Mossad field officer named Alexander Barak who gave him money to purchase anaesthetics which would be used to stupefy Dikko.  Barak was from the Israeli coastal town of Netanya and came from a family of diamond dealers.  Another Mossad field officer named Felix Abithol (31 years old) arrived in London on July 2, 1984 and checked into the Russell Square hotel.  Meanwhile Major Yusufu hired a van which would be used to convey Dikko once he had been captured.  Strangely, Yusufu’s men opted to hire a bright conspicuous canary yellow van. 

 

On July 4, 1984 a Nigerian Airways Boeing 707 cargo plane flew in with no cargo from Lagos and landed at Stansted airport.  The UK authorities were informed that the plane had come in to collect diplomatic baggage from the Nigerian High Commission in London.  Several Nigerian security officers were onboard the plane and had orders not to leave the airport. 

 

 

UMARU DIKKO DIES

 
There must be something about Alhaji Umaru Dikko and London: this is the city where he survived drugging in 1984 and this is the city where he could not survive strokes 30 years after.
The second republic politician, who was generally regarded as the de facto No. 2 in the government of Alhaji Shehu Shagari from 1979 to 1983, died in the Queen’s city on Tuesday morning at 78.
Two things defined Dikko: the statement credited to him that Nigerians were not as poor as being portrayed by the media since they had not started eating from the dustbin ─ and the failed attempt to smuggle him out of the UK in 1984 to come home and face corruption charges.

The two were linked, in some sense. Nigerian economy was in tatters in 1982-83, partly as a result of a global economic crisis and partly because of mismanagement. As prices of goods and services went haywire and workers were being owed salaries, Dikko ─ then minister of transport ─ told the media Nigerians were not that poor. His “dustbin” analogy drew public anger.
But the Shagari government soon collapsed as the military took over to the delight of millions of Nigerians who had been enduring economic hardship. Dikko and several other top politicians fled the country and took asylum in the UK. The new head of state, Major-Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, began to prosecute and jail politicians for corruption. Dikko, who was the chairman of the presidential task force on rice, was declared wanted, accused of embezzling £1 billion.
The plot to kidnap him from London and parcel him in a crate to Nigeria failed, leading to a diplomatic face-off between Nigeria and the British government, led then by Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. Britain recalled its high commissioner to Nigeria ─ and Buhari replied in kind in a massive row between the two countries that lasted for two years.
The Nigerian government insisted it was not behind the kidnap attempt, but it was impossible to believe.
Culled from the Cable

The Socialist World Cup

 
Money talks in global soccer, as it does everywhere else, perhaps more so. The sport is big business. The likes of Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Neymar are international brands, as recognizable as any Hollywood star. Compare a club’s wage bill to its success rate: the correlation is overwhelming. When billionaires acquire clubs like Paris Saint-Germain, Manchester City or Chelsea, their fortunes change. When a very rich country like Qatar wants to host the World Cup, it gets its way even if entirely unsuited to the undertaking.

All this often undermines the beauty of the game. Sulky and overpaid stars, dubious deals and rapacious players’ agents are now part of the scenery. Football has been no exception to the inexorable process that sees the authentic and the genuine undermined by big money and manufactured images.

Until along came Diego Simeone and his “socialist football.” Think of him as the Thomas Piketty of the soccer world. It is impossible to understand what has been happening at the remarkable World Cup in Brazil without considering his impact.