Over 100 Killed as Religious Riots Rage On in Northern Nigeria

Over 100 people have been killed in fresh bloody religious riots raging in Plateau state, as of Tuesday.

Local and foreign journalists in Nigeria have failed to report the facts on the reoccurrence of religious riots in Jos. Many reports said that the violence started after an argument over the rebuilding of homes destroyed in the 2008 clashes, but eyewitness accounts confirmed that fringe elements in the Muslim community attacked the St. Michael's Anglican Church in downtown Jos Sunday morning. The church was set ablaze with worshippers trapped inside. The aggrieved Christians rose up in self defence. The indigenous Berom have gone on rampage in retaliation.

The police have declared a 24-hour curfew after a dusk to dawn curfew on Monday failed to stem the spread of the clashes as gangs of irate Muslims mobilized at midnight before resuming attacks on Christians in the early hours of Tuesday. Churches, mosques and homes have been torched and thousands of residents and visitors are fleeing to police and military barracks for saftey.


(Additional reports by Mainasara)

Kenya to Host Workshop on Implementing Security Council Resolution 1540 (2004), 2-4 February

18 Jan 2010 13:27 Africa/Lagos

Kenya to Host Workshop on Implementing Security Council Resolution 1540 (2004), 2-4 February

NAIROBI, January 18, 2010/African Press Organization (APO)/ -- A regional workshop to be held in Nairobi, Kenya, from 2 to 4 February will aim to promote the building of national- and regional-level capacity to advance full implementation of Security Council resolution 1540 (2004).

Jointly organized by Kenya and the United States, in cooperation with the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs, the workshop will encourage the sharing of experiences on relevant issues, particularly in the biological area, among the participating States as well as the identification of specific capacity-building measures that are responsive to regional and specific national requirements.

Invited to participate in the event will be officials from the Governments of Algeria, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Kenya, Libya, Mali, Morocco, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, United Republic of Tanzania, Tunisia and Uganda. Representatives of international, regional and subregional organizations have also been invited. A representative of the Security Council's 1540 Committee and its experts will also attend the workshop.

The Security Council unanimously adopted resolution 1540 on 28 April 2004, under Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter, obliging all States to refrain from providing any form of support to non-State actors attempting to develop, acquire, manufacture, possess, transport, transfer or use nuclear, chemical or biological weapons and the means for their delivery. The resolution requires all States to establish domestic controls to prevent the proliferation of these weapons of mass destruction and delivery systems, including by establishing appropriate controls over related materials.


For further information, contact Gabriele Kraatz-Wadsack at tel.: +1 212 963 3633.


Source: UNITED NATIONS

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US Leads Global Rescue Efforts in Haiti

Nations Rush To Help Haiti After Catastrophic Earthquake

Photo Credit: Finantial Times Media

Nigeria and other nations are rushing in response to the humananitarian crisis in Haiti after the Tuesday devastating earthquake that left hundreds dead and thousands rendered homeless in the capital city of Port-au-Prince.



President Barack Obama of the United States said his government is already sending emergency relief supplies of foodsuffs, water and medical aid to assist Haiti, the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere.



"This is also a time when we are reminded of the common humanity that we all share, and Americans have always responded to these situations with generosity of spirit. If you would like to support the urgent humanitarian effort in Haiti, I encourage you to visit our website where you can learn more about how to contribute," President Obama said.

He told Americans who want to locate members of their family in Haiti to call the State Department at (888) 407-4747.



For more details and how to help, see Haiti Earthquake and read the following reports.



All photographs are from the copyright owners.



14 Jan 2010 01:03 Africa/Lagos Time

United Nations Foundation Founder and Chairman Ted Turner Statement on the Earthquake and Relief Efforts in Haiti

Commits $1 million and Appeals for Support of UN Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF)

WASHINGTON, Jan. 13 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Ted Turner today issued the following statement in response to the January 12 earthquake in Haiti:


"Our thoughts and prayers are with those affected by the catastrophic earthquake in Haiti last night. We offer condolences to the families of those Haitians, UN peacekeepers and other international staff who have suffered tremendous losses. We are particularly concerned by reports that UN staff including Hedi Annabi, Head of the UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti, are missing following the collapse of the UN headquarters building. The men and women of the United Nations work on the global frontlines, putting their lives at risk to help address the world's most pressing problems. Many of them have paid an enormous price today.


"We are committing $1 million today to address the most urgent humanitarian and re-construction needs in Haiti. The United Nations Foundation is calling on its partners and friends to add their support by contributing to the United Nations Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF), which is the UN's humanitarian fund responding to emergencies like the earthquake in Haiti. Donations can be made on-line at www.unfoundation.org/donate/cerf.html.


"We note UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's statement that UN agencies are deploying to provide humanitarian assistance in close coordination with all parties on the ground. Such quick action, and the release of $10 million from CERF, is vital in preventing even further loss of life. We are grateful for the close coordination of the U.S. Government and other partners to ensure that timely, effective assistance gets to those that need it most.


"We are closely following reports about the devastation to facilities of the UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH). This ongoing peacekeeping effort, comprised of over 9000 international forces, has been in place since the mid-1990s to enhance stability in the country. The UN is working side-by-side with Haitians to provide important security sector reforms, offer election monitoring and police training. UN peacekeepers now face the difficult transition to aid in the search, rescue and recovery efforts in the country, while confronting major personal losses of friends and colleagues.


"The UN Foundation and Vodafone Foundation are also supporting the immediate deployment of two emergency response teams who will work to rebuild the communications infrastructure crippled by the earthquake. These teams, from the World Food Programme and the UN partner Telecoms Sans Frontieres, are deploying to provide emergency communications systems that will enable relief workers to coordinate the delivery of life-saving aid and supplies."


About the United Nations Foundation


The United Nations Foundation, a public charity, was created in 1998 with entrepreneur and philanthropist Ted Turner's historic $1 billion gift to support UN causes and activities. We build and implement public/private partnerships to address the world's most pressing problems, and work to broaden support for the UN through advocacy and public outreach. Through our campaigns and partnerships, we connect people, ideas, and resources to help the UN solve global problems. The campaigns we conduct reduce child mortality, empower women and girls, create a new energy future, secure peace and human rights, and promote technology innovation to improve health outcomes. For more information, visit www.unfoundation.org.


Source: United Nations Foundation

CONTACT: Aaron Sherinian of the United Nations Foundation,
+1-202-778-1622, +1-202-403-9525


Web Site: http://www.unfoundation.org/


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Win An all-expense-paid Trip to Washington, D.C., New York and Hollywood

About the challenge
Create a video short that completes the phrase “Democracy is…”
The Prize
• An all-expense-paid trip to Washington, D.C., New York and Hollywood.
• Gala screenings of the winning videos in Hollywood, New York and Washington
• Exposure to filmmakers and the U.S. film and television industry.
• Meetings with democracy advocates from government, media and civil society.
The Timeline
• SUBMISSION DEADLINE - MIDNIGHT GMT JANUARY 31, 2010.
• Challenge semifinalists will be selected on or about March 31, 2010.
• An independent jury will narrow down the semifinalists to 21 finalists on or about May 15, 2010.
• The general public will vote online for the winning videos May 15 – June 15, 2010.
• Seven winners – one each from the Western Hemisphere, Europe, Middle East/North Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa, South & Central Asia, East Asia/Pacific and one anonymous winner – will be announced in mid-June 2010.
• The six publicly identified winners, one from each of the six geographic regions, will travel to the United States to claim their prize in the fall of 2010.
The Details
• You must be 18 or older to enter.
• Videos can be any style: fiction or documentary, animated or live action.
• Videos must be no longer than three minutes.
• Videos must be in English or have English subtitles.
• Contestants may enter anonymously, but anonymous winners cannot collect the grand prize.
• See contest site for a complete list of rules, CLICK HERE TO ENTER NOW

Nigeria: A Sick Nation with a Sick President

President Umaru Yar'Adua has never been really healthy since he became the head of state of Nigeria.

Nigeria: A Sick Nation with a Sick President


~ By Ekenyerengozi Michael Chima

A silver spooned young Nigerian al-Qaeda suicide bomber failed in his desperate mission to bomb an American plane from Amsterdam to Detroit and the news made headlines all over the world, but not a word from the President of Nigeria. Why? They said he was ill and recuperating at a hospital in Saudi Arabia, but the hospital cannot be named. His vice president spoke on his behalf, but Nigerians felt disappointed. Then the US quickly added Nigeria on their list of terrorist countries to worsen the critical state of the most populous nation in Africa. They thought the shocking news was bad enough for their ailing President to be jolted to react, but there was no word again.

The condition of the president must be terrible that he could not even speak on the international political embarrassment of Nigeria in a state of emergency. He must be in coma or could he be dead?

Both the educated and uneducated have been commenting and speculating on what has gone from bad to worse with their president and his government. Rumours of his death have been spread on the Internet. But the rumours have been debunked by his press sectary and the office of the President played a BBC Interview of him addressing Nigerians that he would soon be back once his doctors declare him healthy enough to return back to work. But many Nigerians called it a hoax.

This is not the first time that spurious speculations and rumours of his deteriorating health and death have been circulated. An online political rumour website once published a fake report that President Umaru Yar’Adua was dead until the man resurfaced alive and continued his presidential responsibilities with full support of the political contractors in his cabinet, shareholders in the corridors of power and their beneficiaries.

A president that has failed to improve the deplorable living conditions of the majority of Nigerians who are living on less that one dollar per capita income in a country rated as one of the most corrupt and among the poorest in the world. They have little or no confidence in their sick president and corrupt government. But spurious speculations and rumours are the stock-in-trade of tabloids and should not be taken seriously.

Desperate times call for desperate measures.

A sick political system has given Nigerians a sick President of Nigeria.

This is the simple diagnosis of the present political crisis and the only cure is not the replacement of the sick President by another sick product of the same sick ruling party, but the total quarantine of the sick political system.

Nigerians do not need any mass rally or whatever hullabaloo over the hide and seek game that the ruling party is playing with the critical state of the President of Nigeria, who was never really elected in the first place, but was appointed by rigging the last Presidential election in 2007.

Corruption is very contagious. Corruption makes people sick and that is why most Nigerians are sick.

Making noise online and offline will not frighten these devils, because they do not care about what makes Nigerians sick. In fact, the sicker Nigerians become, the better, happier and richer they would be. What makes normal humans sick is what makes these abnormal people well. Their government is a government of corrupt people by corrupt people and for corrupt people. If you are not corrupt, you cannot be in their government. Being well fitted in the costume of corruption is the de rigueur of the ruling party of Nigeria. So, it is not only the President of Nigeria that is sick, but the whole political leadership of the country. They are all sick.

It is not an easy task to find incorruptible Nigerians, except those who were born last night. It is an oddity to be honest in Nigeria. So, it is not always wise to join the majority of Nigerians pointing accusing fingers at the corrupt political contractors, corrupt workers in private business and the religious hypocrites, because most of them are not holier than those they are accusing of corruption. A thief is a thief, from the one who stole one naira to the one who stole one billion naira.

You wonder if there is anyone who has not been entangled in the tentacles of corruption in Nigeria through their common extended family system. Therefore, directly or indirectly everyone could be implicated. Nigerians should stop pointing accusing fingers and start making amends from the person gazing at the mirror...

At the national level, the ruling political party should be sacked, because this is the cankerworm of corruption that is destroying Nigeria. And if this cankerworm is not destroyed, it would eat up the whole country.


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Avatar is Triumphant!

~ By Ekenyerengozi Michael Chima

"Avatar is also an emotional journey of redemption and revolution. It is the story of a wounded former Marine, thrust unwillingly into an effort to settle and exploit an exotic planet rich in biodiversity, who eventually crosses over to lead the indigenous race in a battle for survival," and "We're creating an entire world, a complete ecosystem of phantasmagorical plants and creatures, and a native people with a rich culture and language."

~ From 2007 Press Release from the Producers.

The most ambitious director in Hollywood, James Cameron's Avatar has become the second highest grossing box office hit in history after his first groundbreaking box office mega movie, Titanic.

James Cameron’s filmography is enough to justify the fantastic cinematography of his mesmerizing movies and his latest mega movie Avatar adds more aura to his genius. Avatar is more profound than Titanic in concept and depth, because of the messianic mission of the reformation of the earth and the transformation of humankind. So, in vision should not be compared to the historical fiction of the romantic Titanic. Avatar is a universal film on a rescue mission to save the earth.

There is a Jake Sully in everyone with the head in the clouds in romantic escapism as Jake was enraptured in the Na’vi utopian planet of Pandora. But as we know in Greek mythology, Pandora was the first woman who cazrried a jar “that, when opened by her, unleashed many terrible things on mankind – ills, toils and sickness – and hope”, and that hope would be the magic of the exotic love of Jake and Neytiri, the hero and heroine of Avatar. And millions of Americans and geeks of 3-D movies are going over the moon for Avatar.

Who wouldn’t love a paraplegic Marine reminding us of a war hero who might have been wounded in Iraq or Afghanistan?

The journey of the romantic fantasy of Avatar did not start when Cameron began the production, but in 1994 when his genius gave him the idea of a fantastic science fiction epic. The characterization looks like something taken from Marvel Comics. Something that Stan Lee would have written.

The first impression of Avatar is the proverbial triumph of good over evil, but analytically Avatar is James Cameron’s unapologetic denunciation and indictment of Western imperialism and endorsement of biodiversity.

The feline blue-skinned species of humanoids called Na’vi could be the personification of the primitive native tribes of the world whose continents were colonized by imperialist kingdoms of the West. The apparent echoes of imperialism and biodiversity have resonated at every screening of the film all over the world and propelled the epic fantasy to record breaking success as the fastest film to make $1 billion in box office receipts after it was released theatrically worldwide from December 16–18.

The sci-fi epic is Sam Worthington’s wildest dream wish coming true as Oprah Winfrey would have loved to call it and Zoë Saldana was fine as Neytiri, the female Na’vi. But the best acting in Avatar was done by Stephen Lang whose role as Col. Miles Quaritch is unforgettable.

The credit for the success of Avatar should go to the director and the multiple Academy Award winning special visual effects company Weta Digital for the awesome digital visual effects that took the movie to greater heights in cinematography. Weta Digital is famous for The Lord of the Rings Trilogy..

The New York Times reported that President Barack Obama and his family saw Avatar in IMAX 3-D and this is the best format to see the film.

According to Avatar Movie Zone, watch out for the sequels, because Cameron said, "I have a trilogy-scaled arc of story right now, but I haven't really put any serious work into writing a script." So, James Cameron's fantasy still continues.

..................

Ekenyerengozi Michael Chima, the Publisher/Editor of Nigerians Report is also a TV/Film producer and prolific writer for local and international publications on movies and music and other subjects. He lives in Lagos, Nigeria.

About Avatar:

AVATAR takes us to a spectacular world beyond imagination, where a reluctant hero embarks on an epic adventure, ultimately fighting to save the alien world he has learned to call home. James Cameron, the Oscar-winning director of “Titanic,” first conceived the film 15 years ago, when the means to realize his vision did not exist yet. Now, after four years of production, AVATAR, a live action film with a new generation of special effects, delivers a fully immersive cinematic experience of a new kind, where the revolutionary technology invented to make the film disappears into the emotion of the characters and the sweep of the story.

More Details

Cast: Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Sigourney Weaver, Stephen Lang, Michelle Rodriguez, Giovanni Ribisi, Joel David Moore
Director: James Cameron
Genres: Sci-Fi Action, Science Fiction
Avatar Features and Exclusives

Watch our exclusive interviews with the cast!
Director James Cameron and Sam Worthington talk about what it was like on the set of 'Avatar!'Watch Exclusive Cast Interviews!

Enter to win an 'Avatar' poster, T-shirt and more!
Grand prize of an 'Avatar: An IMAX 3D Experince' poster, T-shirt, 2 books and a Mattel toy!Enter Here
See Avatar in IMAX 3D or Digital 3D!
Check out our 'Movie Aliens: From E.T. to Avatar' photo gallery!
Watch our exclusive interview with Sigourney Weaver!

Avatar Trailers and Clips
Avatar: Trailer 2
Trailer: Avatar - Trailer (3:37)
Interview: Exclusive: Avatar - London Premiere (2:16)

More Videos:
Interview: Exclusive: Avatar - Cast Interviews
Scene: Avatar - James Cameron's Vision Featurette
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All-time worldwide box office

# Film title

1. Titanic (1997)
2. Avatar (2009)
3. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
4. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (2006)
5. The Dark Knight (2008)
6. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (2001)
7. Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (2007)
8. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007)
9. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009)
10. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002)

Source: boxofficemojo.com

All-time box office -

# Film title

1. Gone With the Wind, 1939
2. Star Wars, 1977
3. The Sound of Music, 1965
4. E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial, 1982
5. The Ten Commandments, 1956
6. Titanic, 1997
7. Jaws, 1975
8. Doctor Zhivago,
9. The Exorcist, 1973
10. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, 1937

Source: boxofficemojo.com

Avatar Pirated in Nigeria!

Avatar Pirated in Nigeria!

~ By Ekenyerengozi Michael Chima

I was busy in our office going over my review of James Cameron’s billion dollars grossing sci-fi epic Avatar when a young friend came in to ask after the Publisher of Supple magazine.
He saw my review on the homepage of Supple magazine online edition and smirked.
“Have you seen Avatar?” I asked.
‘Yeah. In fact, my family is watching it right now at home,” he replied me.
I opened my mouth in disbelief.
“The DVD?” I asked.
“Yeah,” he replied.
‘Where did you get it?” I asked.
“I bought it from a street vendor for N150 (about 99 cents),” he replied.
“Must be pirated,” I said.
‘Of course,” he concurred.
I sighed in disappointment.
Avatar is already being pirated on the streets of Lagos, Nigeria. And I bet that both the famous director and 20th Century Fox do not know this!


...............

Ekenyerengozi Michael Chima is the author of Avatar is Triumphant!.



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President Barack Obama Reviews US Security After Failed Christmas Terrorist Attack

President Barack Obama

Release of the Security Review Conducted After the Failed Christmas Terrorist Attack

Posted by Jesse Lee on January 07, 2010 at 04:36 PM EST

The review of our security and intelligence systems following the attempted terrorist attack on Christmas Day has been completed. The President spoke two days ago about "the urgency of getting this right," and the identification of failures in this review, along with the immediate ordering of reforms and corrective steps both today and in the days since this incident, are a recognition of that urgency. This review is also a recognition that while there is no place for partisanship and the old Washington blame game in dealing with Al Qaeda and the threat they represent, keeping American safe depends on honest and direct accountability.

Read the summary of the security review (pdf).
Read the President's Directive on corrective actions (pdf).

UPDATE:
Read the President's remarks.

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