Fifth Anniversary of the Tsunami

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15 Dec 2009 14:00 Africa/Lagos

Launch of Multimedia Documentary Marking the Fifth Anniversary of the Tsunami

- Inspiring documentary featuring interviews with extraordinary survivors - Reuters photography and film of the Tsunami's aftermath - Fully interactive, online multimedia presentation

LONDON, Dec. 15 /PRNewswire/ -- Thomson Reuters Foundation and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) today announced the launch of a new multimedia web documentary -- "Surviving the Tsunami: Stories of Hope" -- produced jointly to mark the fifth anniversary of the worst natural disaster in living memory, the Indian Ocean Tsunami.


(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20090507/NY12658LOGO )


Combining powerful imagery by award-winning Reuters photojournalists with eyewitness testimony and interactive graphics, the documentary reveals the strength of the human spirit in the face of catastrophe. These are stories of compassion, hope and dignity.


"Surviving the Tsunami - Stories of Hope" can be viewed at: http://tsunami.trust.org/


The project marks a strengthened partnership between Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, the world's largest provider of news and information, and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), the world's largest humanitarian organisation.


Commenting on the documentary Yasemin Aysan, Under Secretary General of the IFRC, said: "The tsunami caused catastrophic and unprecedented damage but also generated incredible levels of spontaneous generosity from ordinary people around the world. We have spent the past five years helping communities to recover and we wanted to produce a true testimony that allows ordinary people affected by the tsunami to tell their extraordinary stories."


Speaking at the launch, Monique Villa, CEO of Thomson Reuters Foundation, said: "This is a hugely inspirational and moving multimedia documentary that reveals the amazing capacity for human beings to overcome tragedy. It draws on the unique experiences of Reuters journalists in one of the most harrowing natural disasters of our time and is a celebration of humanity's spirit and tenacity in the face of adversity."


The documentary follows the success of two award-winning multimedia productions by Reuters, "Bearing Witness" about the Iraq war and "Times of Crisis" about the global financial meltdown.


The launch of the documentary took place alongside the unveiling of Thomson Reuters Foundation's new Emergency Information Service (EIS). The pioneering service has been developed to respond to major natural disasters around the world, with key support from the Red Cross. The Foundation will deploy expert Action-Units of journalists to scenes of major catastrophe where they will seek out, collate and disseminate life-saving information to disaster-struck populations, filling a critical gap in the chain of crisis information.


EIS Action-Units will be staffed by specialist humanitarian-trained Reuters journalists. Upon alert of a major natural disaster, the EIS Action-Units will travel to the affected area and use the most appropriate means of communication -- particularly SMS text messages -- to reach local populations, aid agencies and local-language media. Communities affected by disasters often find themselves cut off from information and aid. A key aim of the EIS is to ensure those affected are not seen merely as victims but as "first responders" who can help shape and manage the disaster recovery process through their own local knowledge and expertise.


"In times of major natural catastrophes, information itself is aid, as crucial as shelter or blankets," Monique Villa said. "Working with key partners such as the Red Cross, the EIS will have teams in the field within hours of a natural disaster striking. The EIS Action-Units will provide reliable, actionable information to help empower survivors to be architects of their own recovery."


Contacts

Thomson Reuters International Federation of Red Cross
and Red Crescent Societies
Victoria Brough Paul Conneally
Head of External Affairs, EMEA Head of Media and Public Communications
+ 44 (0) 207 542 8763 +41(0)22.730.4669 / +41(0)79.3089809
victoria.brough@thomsonreuters.com paul.conneally@ifrc.org

Tom Gilbert
Corporate Communications Manager
+44 (0) 207 542 4214
tom.h.gilbert@thomsonreuters.com

Pictures contact:
Jassim Ahmad
Head of Visual Projects
+44 20 7542 2822
Jassim.Ahmad@thomsonreuters.com



Notes to Editors:

1. About "Surviving the Tsunami - Stories of Hope":


The multi-media web documentary is a compilation of Reuters world-renowned photography, tsunami video footage, fresh interviews and interactive graphics.


The documentary is accessible in multiple languages: French, Spanish, Arabic, Bahasa (Indonesian), Hindi, Tamil, Sinhala, Thai, Japanese, Mandarin.


To view the documentary please go to: http://tsunami.trust.org/


High resolution photographs used in the documentary and of editorial reproduction quality available - preview here: http://link.reuters.com/gup46g


The stories:

Arko Datta, India

A veteran Reuters photojournalist whose quest to find a survivor he photographed five years ago leads to an extraordinary reunion


Dina Astita, Indonesia


A teacher who lost her three children but became an inspiration for others in a village where nine of 10 residents died


Sara Hedrenius Andreasson, Sweden


A tsunami trauma counsellor whose own experiences in another disaster 10 years earlier gave her unique insight into the psychology of survival


Kushil Gunasekera, Sri Lanka


A local philanthropist from one of the worst hit communities in Sri Lanka who narrowly escaped the waves and helped galvanise his village to build itself back


2. About Thomson Reuters Foundation


Established in 1982, Thomson Reuters Foundation is a registered charity in Britain and the United States. The charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, it leverages the skills and expertise across the corporation to increase trust and access to the rule of law, to save lives through the provision of trusted information and to improve standards of journalism.


Following the acquisition of Reuters by Thomson Corp in 2008, the Foundation's resources and programmes were expanded and a new leadership team was appointed. The Thomson Reuters Foundation website, trust.org, is a portal which integrates the Foundation's three key areas of focus and brings together the Foundation's community of partners.


3. About The IFRC


The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies is the world's largest humanitarian network, with tens of millions of volunteers and staff in 186 countries worldwide. It provides help and support to people in crisis without discrimination as to their nationality, race, religious beliefs, class or political opinions.


Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20090507/NY12658LOGO
Source: Thomson Reuters Foundation

CONTACT: Victoria Brough, Head of External Affairs, EMEA, +44(0)207 542
8763, victoria.brough@thomsonreuters.com, or Tom Gilbert, Corporate
Communications Manager, +44(0)207 542 4214, tom.h.gilbert@thomsonreuters.com,
both of Thomson Reuters; Pictures contact: Jassim Ahmad, Head of Visual
Projects, +44 20 7542 2822; Jassim.Ahmad@thomsonreuters.com; Paul Conneally,
International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, Head of
Media and Public Communications, +41(0)22.730.4669 / +41(0)79.3089809,
paul.conneally@ifrc.org

British Millionaire Murdered By Young Nigerian wife

British millionaire murdered by young Nigerian wife
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British millionaire William West was beaten to death with a cooking pestle by his young Nigerian wife Kate Artori as they stayed at his beachfront home in ... MORE.

Nigeria: Apex Bank Chief is Man of the Year

Nigeria: Apex Bank Chief is Man of the Year

Mr. Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, the fearless governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has been named the Man of the Year by Nigerians Report, the premier news blog of the most populous country in Africa.

Nigerians Report described Mr. Sanusi as “A ‘sanitary officer’ to bank on for cleansing the stench in our banking stables” and commended him for his laudable sanitization of the Nigerian banking industry; for having the conscience to do the right thing which his predecessor, Mr. Chukwuma Soludo failed to do, particularly the sacking of corrupt CEOs and executive directors of mismanaged banks.

Mr. Sanusi’s disclosures of the sharp practices by Nigerian banks rattled the general public, embarrassed the bankers and disgraced the celebrated billionaires as big debtors siphoning millions of dollars as loans to enrich themselves and many of the banks were rendered insolvent.

The erudite risk management expert is seen as a hatchet man by Nigerian banks, but his radical reforms have been hailed by the World Bank, International Monetary Fund (IMF) and other global financial bodies. Mr. Sanusi has a genuine and sanguine view of Nigerian financial institutions, forecasting that the Nigerian economy will be bigger than that of South Africa by 2012.



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Niger Delta Crisis: Amnesty or Travesty?

Amnesty or Travesty?


I have decided not to approve the so called Amnesty the Federal Government has given to the so called militants in the Niger Delta region, because the celebrated Nigerian Nobel Laureate in Literature, Prof. Wole Soyinka already spoken my mind in his critical analysis of the anomie in Between Amnesty and Amnesia.

The recourse to Amnesty after the punitive campaign of the Joint Task Force (JTF) failed woefully is begging the question of the Niger Delta crisis and not a solution. The solution to the Niger Delta crisis is not a Herculean task if the ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP) wants to be truly honest and transparent.

The bloody battle in the Niger Delta over resource control is actually a power struggle between mercenaries of the oligarchy in Nigeria fighting over illegal oil bunkering in the oil rich states of the Niger Delta. Both the serving and retired top military officers are actively engaged in the criminal operation of illegal oil bunkering and the Nigerian Navy cannot deny this fact, because the tankers and barges used for illegal oil bunkering are not invisible in the territorial waters of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. They are ruthless in their greed for political power and money that they have usurped the rights of the host communities and took over the reins of power in government to control the Nigerian Armed Forces and ruling party to plunder the mineral resources in the country.
They have shared the oil blocks and are now engaged in a do or die battle in illegal oil bunkering that fetches over $20 million daily.

President Umaru Yar’Adua knows the truth and the sooner he says the truth the better.
The most ridiculous is amount of N50 billion being projected for the conflict resolution as proposed in the presidential Amnesty. Before our very eyes, that N50 billion would be embezzled by the same mercenaries of the oligarchy in power in Nigeria and the devastated host communities would be left with the crumbs.
This so called Amnesty is a travesty of justice.
Who is fooling whom?

The Day Barack Obama Made History: A Video Documentary

The Day Barack Obama Made History: My Candid Opinion

I had no right to vote for Senator Barack Obama, but I have the right to congratulate him on his historic election as the next President of the United States of America on November 4, 2008.

Senator Barack Obama has become the first ever African American to be elected as the President of the United States of America. His epic achievement means a lot to African Americans and all people of color and millions of humans who have been seen as minorities or less privileged, who are now inspired to follow in his giant strides to greater heights in the world.


I was one of the conservative pundits who thought that Barack Obama would not be able to defeat John McCain in the presidential election, but he has proved us wrong and many factors were responsible for his historic victory last Tuesday.



I blame the inefficiencies and inadequacies of the John McCain presidential campaign strategists. Their old fashioned political tactics were out of sync with the new wave social pop culture of the new generation of Americans in the 21st century. The majority of American youths identified with the younger presidential candidate who became their political rock star of the moment. Barack Obama campaign strategists were more streetwise online and offline than the John McCain campaign strategists. The better presidential campaign team won!



Barack Obama campaign strategists also spent a lot of money on media planning and branding for the social marketing of Barack Obama on the largest social networking sites and the media blitz overwhelmed the John McCain campaign. Millions of them contributed and donated a lot to boost the presidential prospects of Barack Obama.



Barack Obama covered more ground and increased his mileage and patronage. His long presidential primary campaign against Hillary Clinton also propelled the political momentum of Barack Obama and made him a phenomenal political icon of American liberals who idolized him as their flag bearer and he successfully navigated the course of a new era as the catalyst of change, a turning point in the political history of America. His intellectual brilliance and poetic eloquence made Barack Obama charismatic and magnetic and his biracial family background also made him more colorful with a cross over appeal to all Americans and others who flocked to him like junkies hooked on Ecstasy.



The majority of Americans was also tired of the Republican Party and they have had enough of the economic and socio-political failures and foreign policy blunders of President George W. Bush and since Senator John McCain belongs to the same GOP, Barack Obama accused him of being complicit with the Bush administration. He labeled him as an accomplice of the villified Bush administration and the financial crisis with the looming recession worsened the presidential prospects of John McCain. Barack Obama piled on the complicity of John McCain with the Bush administration on the hated war in Iraq.

Barack Obama was smarter!



I believe that if God did not permit it, it would not have happened and God has His divine reasons for it.

I wish him all the best as he leads America in the beginning of the nation building of a New America in the leadership of the world in the 21st century.

For U.S. Voters

John McCain


Barack Obama


URGENT PRAYER REQUEST ... If you love life ... please pray for the U.S. Presidential Election on Tuesday, November 4. Many are saying this could be the most critical U.S. election in our time. Either for better or for worse, what happens with U.S. politics affects much of life in the rest of the world. For U.S. Voters.

Please see the AFA, American Family Association, Voter Issue Guide for the 2008 Presidential Race. Be sure to vote on November 4 and know for whom you are voting and for what each candidate stands. Be sure to pray for guidance and vote according to your conscience. Click HERE. From Richard (Dick) InnesACTS International

N.B: Nigerian Times is also on http://www.nigeriantimes.com.ng

NEWSWEEK Cover: She's One of the Folks (And That's the Problem)

In the October 13 issue of Newsweek (on newsstands Monday, October 6): "She's One of the Folks (And that's the problem)." Editor Jon Meacham writes an essay about how Sarah Palin's populist view of high office is risky for the country. Plus: the problems the next president will inherit; Biden opens up about the campaign; the fall of America Inc.; an interview with Irani Foreign Minister Mottaki; the Women & Leadership series and keeping kids healthy in cold-weather months. (PRNewsFoto/NEWSWEEK) |||DW_DOM_101308.tif NEW YORK UNITED STATES 10/05/2008

5 Oct 2008 16:56 Africa/Lagos

NEWSWEEK Cover: She's One of the Folks (And That's the Problem)

Editor Jon Meacham On Sarah Palin's Folksiness: 'Do We Want Leaders Who Are Everyday Folks ... Or Who Understand Everyday Folks?'



Palin's Populist View Of High Office -- Hey, Vice President Six-Pack, What Should We Do About Pakistan? -- Is Dangerous

NEW YORK, Oct. 5 /PRNewswire/ -- Newsweek Editor Jon Meacham writes in an essay that the honest explanation of the rationale for Sarah Palin's candidacy -- not her preparedness for office, but her personality and nascent maverickism in Alaska -- raises an important question, not only about this election but about democratic leadership. "Do we want leaders who are everyday folks, or do we want leaders who understand everyday folks? Therein lies an enormous difference, one that could decide the presidential election and, if McCain and Palin were to win, shape the governance of the nation."


(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20081005/NYSU002 )


In the October 13 Newsweek cover, "She's One of The Folks (And that's the problem)" (on newsstands Monday, October 6), Meacham examines this question of Palin's folksiness, looking at how it's a liability for the campaign and the country. Sitting with her for part of the Katie Couric interview on CBS, John McCain implicitly compared Palin to Bill Clinton and Ronald Reagan, saying that they, too, had been caricatured and dismissed by mainstream voices. The linkages are untenable, Meacham writes. "A successful two-term governor of California, Reagan had spent decades immersed in politics (of both the left and the right) before running for president. He did like to call himself a citizen-politician, and Lord knows he had an occasionally ambiguous relationship with facts, but he was a serious man who had spent a great deal of time thinking about the central issues of the age. To put it kindly, Palin, however promising a governor she is, has not done similar work."


Meacham writes that he could be wrong, and perhaps Palin will somehow emerge from the hurly-burly of history as a transformative figure who was underestimated in her time by journalists who could not see, or refused to acknowledge, her virtues. "But do I think that I am right in saying that Palin's populist view of high office -- hey, Vice President Six-Pack, what should we do about Pakistan? -- is dangerous? You betcha."


"A key argument for Palin, in essence, is this: Washington and Wall Street are serving their own interests rather than those of the broad whole of the country, and the moment requires a vice president who will, Cincinnatus-like, help a new president come to the rescue," Meacham writes. "The problem with the argument is that Cincinnatus knew things. Palin sometimes seems an odd combination of Chauncey Gardiner from 'Being There' and Marge from 'Fargo.' Is this an elitist point of view? Perhaps, though it seems only reasonable and patriotic to hold candidates for high office to high standards. Elitism in this sense is not about educational or class credentials ... It is, rather, about the pursuit of excellence no matter where you started in life. Jackson, Lincoln, Truman, Eisenhower, Johnson, Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan and Clinton were born to ordinary families, but they spent their lives doing extraordinary things, demonstrating an interest in, and a curiosity about, the world around them. This is much less evident in Palin's case."


Meacham praises Palin for her public service. "If she were seeking a Senate seat, or being nominated for a cabinet post-secretary of energy, say, or interior -- the conversation about her would be totally different. But she is not seeking a Senate seat, nor is she being nominated for a cabinet post, and so it is only prudent to ask whether she is in fact someone who should be president of the United States in the event of disaster. She may be ready in a year or two, but disaster does not coordinate its calendar with ours. Would we muddle through if Palin were to become president? Yes, we would, but it is worth asking whether we should have to."


In a counterpoint essay, Karl Rove, the former senior adviser and deputy chief of staff to President Bush and a Newsweek contributor, writes that, with respect, Meacham misses the principal arguments for Palin. "She is the governor of a state with an $11 billion operating budget, a $1.7 billion capital budget and nearly 29,000 employees; she's got more executive experience than any candidate for president or vice president this year. In Alaska she took on the state political establishment, the incumbent Republican governor and the oil companies. She's a rising star who accentuates McCain's maverick strengths and a 'hockey mom' who has developed a powerful tie to ordinary voters."


"That link isn't itself an argument for Palin. But being able to connect with, and inspire, the public is an asset -- not a liability. As for Jon's argument against 'everyday Americans' as political leaders, many great presidents have been more average than elitist. Ronald Reagan, from Eureka College, was a far better leader than Woodrow Wilson, a former president of Princeton. Wilson would have given you 100 Supreme Court opinions he disagreed with, whether you wanted to listen or not," Rove writes.


(Read cover story at www.Newsweek.com)

Cover Story

Rove essay

Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20081005/NYSU002
AP Archive: http://photoarchive.ap.org/
AP PhotoExpress Network: PRN3
PRN Photo Desk, photodesk@prnewswire.com
Source: Newsweek

CONTACT: Jan Angilella of Newsweek, +1-212-445-5638


Web site: http://www.newsweek.com/


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God Bless Nigeria!

Happy 48th Independence Anniversary!

I went on my knees early in the morning to say a prayer for a New Nigeria.
A New Nigeria with God fearing leaders and God fearing people.
I know that God will answer my prayer.

I wish all my fellow citizens of the Federal Republic of Nigeria all the best things in the world.


The Nigerian Fools Who Think They Can Fool God
by Michael Chima Ekenyerengozi

'101 Things You - and John McCain - Didn't Know About Sarah Palin'

1 Oct 2008 11:00 Africa/Lagos

'101 Things You - and John McCain - Didn't Know About Sarah Palin'

By Gregory Bergman

BOSTON, Oct. 1 /PRNewswire/ -- www.101thingsaboutsarahpalin.com: Sarah Palin is living proof that politics does indeed make strange bedfellows. In "101 Things You -- and John McCain -- Didn't Know" about Sarah Palin (Adams Media/October 1, 2008) by comedian Greg Bergman, readers learn the (alleged) truth about the (reputed) Republican darling from Alaska who has taken the nation by (ice) storm. From hunter, to hockey mom, to live action figure, this book confirms America's latest instant-celebrity is indeed stranger -- and scarier -- than ever imagined.


With the polls projecting a statistical dead-heat and the election nearly one month away, left-leaning voters are feeling the pressure -- and desperate for a laugh. For the 18 million-strong Sisterhood of the Traveling Pantsuits to the 72 million registered Democrats praying for a Palin pratfall, "101 Things You -- and John McCain -- Didn't Know about Sarah Palin" proves politics can be much funnier than fiction. For instance:


-- When Sarah Palin was a little girl, her father Charlie reportedly often took her moose hunting before school. We know that eating together as a family is important, but hunting your meal down as a family? Now that's true togetherness ...


-- Palin attended a Pentecostal church until 2002. Interestingly, she's characteristically silent on the subject of her speaking in tongues.


-- Palin has sued the federal government for putting polar bears on the endangered species list. Apparently they are not as cute and cuddly up close as they are in cartoons.


-- In 2007, Sarah Palin offered $150 to every hunter who hacked off the left foreleg of a wolf shot from a plane. Talk about wolves being thrown, uh ... to the wolves.


A hilarious and irreverent look at America's favorite "Caribou Barbie," this is the only humor book on Palin currently available.


Author and comedian Gregory Bergman is the author of "WTF?," "BizzWords," "Isms," and "The Little Book of Bathroom Philosophy." His work has been featured in the "Wall Street Journal" and on NPR. Bergman is based in Los Angeles.


VISIT www.101thingsaboutsarahpalin.com


Source: Gregory Bergman

CONTACT: Beth Gissinger, +1-508-427-6757, beth.gissinge@fwpubs.com, for
Gregory Bergman


Web site: http://www.101thingsaboutsarahpalin.com/