An Exclusive With Nigerian-American Music Rave, JANELIA!

A widely acclaimed player in the music scene in the United States, Nigerian-American, Janelia was caught-up with in Lagos and sat down with Naija Chit-Chat for this revealing exclusive.

Please give us an insight into your person.

I am a Nigerian-American singer, songwriter and a performing artist. Three words to describe me would be creative, personable and compassionate. Basically I’m down to earth, I no dey form. I have a passion for music and I love people, even the not so good ones; I pray for them. I also enjoy cooking and I’m known to host the best house parties, invite only, (she laughs!)

How long have you been into music and what propelled you into it?

I’ve been doing music professionally for 10 years. I have always been drawn to music and the arts as a child and wrote my first song when I was 9 years old. Music is one of my few passions, especially singing live with my band. Making music has always been a part of who I am and will continue to be a part of me.

What’s your genre and who did you decide to go into this style?

My genre of music is a beautiful fusion of soul and Afro-pop (or like we call it in Nigeria, Naija hip-hop). My music embodies the Nigerian-American that I truly am. I have the ability to move fluidly between genres, this is why you will hear funky, soulful and afro rhythms in my song writing and vocal delivery. Now that I have teamed up with some of Nigeria’s A list producers such as Young D and Fliptyce, I feel the sky is not my limit but my starting point.

USA is the music capital of the world, since last year, you have been in Nigeria; why this decision and what do you hope to accomplish outside the US?

After I finished secondary school in Nigeria and decided to further my education in the United States, my plan was to return after my studies so that I may give back to my community and contribute to the progress of Nigeria. It is time to come back home! Other than doing music I am also passionate about helping those that are less fortunate, and want to continue my philanthropy work in Nigeria as I have started in the U.S. I am grateful for God’s blessings in my life and it is simply time to give back to my beloved country. I feel Nigeria needs me and this will become evident as time goes on.

 

So how has your music been doing in the markets?
 
My past releases have done well on iTunes for an independent artist. We will see how the Nigerian market will embrace my music in the long run but so far the response has been great and I’m looking forward to even greater responses.

When do you hope to return to the US?
 
I am what you call a Jet-setter. I fly back and forth across the ocean as necessary; it all depends on what music and my other businesses call for. Nigeria is my home so Nigeria will always be my base.

How do fans get to buy your music.

All my music is available to my fans worldwide through iTunes & most international digital download outlets.  It will soon be available through Caller Tunes, Spinlet and other digital music distribution in Nigeria. Once my album drops later this year it will be available on the streets but for now you can find “Sexy Nana” on many mix tapes on the streets. Also it’s free when you join my official mailing list. I like to provide this free download so that I can have direct access to my fans through my mailing list. I send timely updates to my fans and make sure I respond to their feedback because they are the ones for whom I make music.

Janelia's Links:
Website: http://www.janeliasoul.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/janeliasoul
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/janeliafan
Official Email List: https://www.facebook.com/janeliafan
iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/sexy-nana-single/id840260955

Copyright: All rights reserved. This material, and other digital content on this website, may not be reproduced, published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed in whole or in part without prior express written permission from Naija Chit-Chat

Contact: naijachitchat@gmail.com

No Mugabe, Zimbabawe More Corrupt Than Nigeria, Says Campbell

Ambassador John Campbell, a great critic of Nigeria’s government has waded into the diplomatic spat between Nigeria and Zimbabwe, over President Robert Mugabe’s denigration of Nigeria as a corrupt country. Campbell, a blogger on the website of US Council on Foreign Relations, said contrary to the impression Mugabe created, Zimbabwe is worse than Nigeria as a corrupt nation.

Campbell relied on the Corruption Perception Index published by Transparency International to reach his conclusion. In the last edition, Mugabe’s Zimbabwe was rated 157, while Nigeria was rated 133.

Besides, the 70 year old Campbell, who was US ambassador to Nigeria between 2004 and 2007, described the controversy as needless distractions for the two countries.

Here is the full posting on his Africa In Transition Blog. It is entitled “Zimbabwe and Nigeria: Mirror, Mirror on the Wall, Who is the Most Corrupt of Them All?”

“Robert Mugabe, the poster boy for bad governance in Africa, said last month that Zimbabweans were behaving “like Nigerians” with respect to bribes and corruption. This, he implied, is not a good thing.

“The administration of Nigerian president Goodluck Jonathan was apparently enraged. On April 11, the Nigerian Foreign Ministry called in the senior Zimbabwean envoy in Abuja to protest, characterizing Mugabe’s comments as “vitriolic and denigrating.” According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN). The ministry’s statement continued, “not only does it not reflect the reality in our country, but to come from a sitting president of a brotherly country is most unkind and very dishonorable.”

“Transparency International’s well-regarded “Corruption Perception Index” lists Nigeria as 133 out of 175 countries, and Zimbabwe at 157. The country ranked one (Denmark and New Zealand tied) is considered the least corrupt, that listed 175 (Somalia, Afghanistan, and North Korea tied) as the most corrupt. So, Mugabe is wrong: Zimbabwe is more corrupt than Nigeria. Nigeria faces the Boko Haram insurrection in the north, ethnic and religious conflict in the Middle Belt, and the prospect of renewed insurgency in the oil patch. Zimbabwe remains an international pariah and faces unresolved succession issues.

“Nigeria may feel especially stung by Mugabe’s comments because it prides itself on the assistance it provided to southern African liberation movements in the days of apartheid in South Africa and Ian Smith’s white-ruled Rhodesia. But, perhaps it is also a useful distraction for both countries to quarrel over which is the more corrupt than to face their numerous other internal challenges.”

Chiwetel Ejiofor: ‘I’m Proud To Be A Nigerian’

Chiwetel Ejiofor

London-born Nigerian Hollywood star, Chiwetel Ejiofor, on Friday said he was proud to be identified as a Nigerian.

Ejiofor said this in Lagos at the premiere of a movie “Half of a Yellow Sun’’ based on a novel written by a Nigerian novelist, Chimamanda Adichie.

He said that there was a wrong impression that he claimed not to be a Nigerian.

“During the period of publicising “Twelve Years a Slave”, I was asked where I was originally from. I suppose I was trying to give an honest answer about where I was born, and so, I said London, which is where I was born.

“And to me, it was a surprising reaction that people then concluded that I didn’t identify as Nigerian.

“Of course, I am Nigerian-British, but if they ask me where I was born, I can’t say Enugu, because I wasn’t born in Enugu, but, it doesn’t mean that I don’t identify as Nigerian.

“I am proud of being Nigerian that I am extraordinarily happy to be here to make this film. We wanted to make a film in Nigeria for several years, maybe 20 years. Several years we talked about making a film in Nigeria, internationalise the market, we know there is so much, there’s a handful of energy and ability in Nigeria.

A scene from the movie

“And, for those of us that were born overseas, we want to get back into all of that and try to work together and make films and internationalise what is a wonderful market community.

(Watch the trailer here):

Biyi Bandele, who directed “Half of a Yellow Sun’’ said, “the movie is essentially a love story.”

According to him, it’s about people falling in love and the sacrifices you have to make sometimes when you are in a relationship.

“It is about a generation of Nigerians who grew up in the 1960s which is when Nigeria, along with most African countries gained independence.

“And, this is a generation of Africans, of Nigerians, who were so imbued with confidence, with enthusiasm, with optimism about the future of the country and Africa.”

Bandele said the movie was shot in just 33 days at Tinapa Calabar and other locations in Nigeria.

Biyi Bamidele

He said that artistes from more than 12 different countries were involved in the production of the movie, which he said would make Africa proud.

Also, Mr Kene Mkparu, the Chairman of FilmOne, a distribution company responsible for the movie in Nigeria, said it was “the beginning’’, and urged Nigerians to support the movie.

`Half of a Yellow Sun’ features actors such as Onyeka Onwenu, Genevieve Nnaji, O.C. Ukeje, John Boyega, Anika Rose, Tina Mba, Wale Ojo, Thandie Newton and Gloria Young.

It was produced by Andre Calderwood, Sandra Obiago, Yewande Sadiku and Mukhtar Bakare.

The movie would be released fully in Nigerian cinemas on April 25.

GHANA LOVES VOODOO! Boy Cuts Another Boy’s Head, Arrested With The Head In His Hand

The world and Ghana keeps getting scarier by the day, the photo above is of a boy who was arrested for beheading another boy, reasons for the beheading unknown but obviously for some spiritual works as young men of today will do anything for quick money.

The Techiman police nabbed the boy and the photo you see above was taken. Is this fair? Tell us the appropriate punishment for this boy. 

It is now a common thing to see Ghanaians scramble to get "spiritual power" by any means through dubious means and as a fast way to get quick cash; examples are pastors hoodwinking their church members, using it in the game of soccer, ladies using voodoo power to "arrest" men and so many more.

Wickedness at it’s peak.

Oral Sex! "The Mouth Is For Eating, It’s Not For That Purpose" – Uganda’s President

Thousands of Ugandans led by President Yoweri Museveni held a rally Monday celebrating tough new anti-gay laws, praising the bill despite international criticism and donor aid cuts.

“Thank you for saving the future of Uganda,” read signs held by the demonstrators, who marched through the streets of the capital Kampala.

Last month, Museveni signed a bill that calls for “repeat homosexuals” to be jailed for life and requires people to report homosexuals.

US Secretary of State John Kerry likened the new law to anti-Semitic legislation in Nazi Germany and warned it could damage ties with Washington.

Other demonstrators, who sang a song called “bye-bye homosexuality”, appealed directly to US President Barack Obama.

“Obama, we want trade, not homosexuality,” one sign read.

Critics have said Museveni signed the law to win domestic support ahead of presidential elections scheduled for 2016, which will be his 30th year in power.

But Museveni made clear his personal objection both to homosexuality — which he claimed had “unhealthy repercussions” — as well as to oral sex.

“Oral sex! The mouth is for eating, it’s not for that purpose,” he told the crowd.

Diplomats and rights groups had been hoping the president, who is already under fire from key Western donors over alleged rampant graft and for stifling opposition groups and media, would refuse to sign the legislation into law.

The European Parliament responded to the law by backing sanctions against Uganda, saying the country had violated human rights and democratic principles.

Annual foreign aid to Uganda accounts for a fifth of the east African country’s $12-billion (8.6-billion-euro) annual budget.

But Museveni said Uganda would survive the cuts.

“Thanks for the support, but let us produce wealth so that we don’t have to beg,” he said.

“The Europeans are threatening us with aid because we are lazy, that is a weakness,” he added.

Nigerians Are The 3rd Largest Spenders In The UK, Beats Russia and America — See How Much They Spend!

The Nigerian share of UK’s spending may on the surface sound insignificant, but it has shot Nigerians ahead of Russians.

The Nigerians according to latest statistics by Global Blue were the third biggest spenders after the Middle East Arabs and Chinese. Russians now occupy the fourth place, though they also account for an average of four percent of UK shopping.

Russian spending in British shops fell by 17 percent last month compared to February 2013, according to tax-free shopping statistics out today. Spending by Nigerians however declined by 8 per cent in the month under review.

Visitors from Russia spent an average £669 ($1,103, 800 euros) per transaction, according to Global Blue, seeing them overtaken in third place by those from Nigeria compared to 12 months ago.

Spending by Russian visitors was up 16 percent for the year in 2013 but fell in February 2014

Nigerian Troops Capture Mandara Mountains

The Islamist sect, Boko Haram, has lost one of its major enclaves –the famous Mandara Mountain – in Borno State to soldiers as the assault on the insurgents intensifies across the Northeast.

An unspecified number of insurgents were killed in sustained raids in and around the mountain while about 60 were arrested.

The troops are still combing the mountain to fish out Boko Haram leaders and fighters believed to be hiding there.

The Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Kenneth Minimah and the Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Adesola Amosu, both of whom have temporarily relocated to Borno State, are personally leading land and air assaults against the sect in Borno .

In the midst of the gains, the Defence Headquarters confirmed yesterday its arrest of a suspected terrorist who claims to be a Cameroonian and an arms courier for Boko Haram.

The arrest of the suspect has led to the discovery of a large cache of arms and ammunition hidden in the premises of a burnt church.

Some of the recovered arms were anti-aircraft guns, rocket propelled guns, General Purpose and other brands of machine guns

A top military source,shedding light on the capture of Mandara Mountain said :”As I talk to you, our troops have captured Mandara Mountain and they are combing the caves in the place to smoke out the terrorists.

“During the encounters, many insurgents were killed and an appreciable number of them arrested.

“Since Tuesday, Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Kenneth Minimah and the Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Adesola Amosu have been directly in charge of the operation. While the Air Chief is guiding the air operation, the chief of army staff is leading the land campaign.

“So, you can see that these service chiefs are providing leadership for the troops in order to ensure that we win the war against the insurgents.”

Asked about a letter purportedly written by Boko Haram to the military threatening to attack Maimalari Barracks, the source said: “The military authorities have not been informed of that but it won’t be strange if they do so because that is their pattern.

“They are certainly frustrated because as the operation is continuing their fighters are dying and many members of the Boko Haram have been arrested.

“So far, more than 60 insurgents have been arrested in the last five days. We are still on the trail of more of them.”

The Defence Headquarters yesterday confirmed the arrest of a Cameroonian who is said to be central to the operation and management of Boko Haram armoury.

Spokesman for DHQ, Gen. Chris Olukolade, said: “The arrest of a terrorist who claims to be a Cameroonian and an arms courier for the group has led to the discovery of a large cache of arms and ammunition hidden in the premises of a burnt church.

“The weapons, which have now been recovered by troops include anti-aircraft guns, rocket propelled guns as well as the General Purpose and other brands of machine guns , were found buried in the premises of one of the churches earlier burnt by terrorists in Kalabalge Local Government Area of Borno state.

“Also recovered from the location were thousands of ammunition and links.

“The middle aged man who led troops on the cordon and search operation towards the recovery was one of the terrorists captured in recent raids”.

Olukolade said that the weapons were stockpiled to be used in a pending attack on some communities around Nigeria- Cameroon border.

The weapons have all been evacuated while Guard locations and patrols are being maintained in the general area and the surrounding localities.

The military claims could not be independently verified.

On the operation in Borno State, the DHQ said: “ troops have continued with various operations assigned to the formations involved in the counter terrorist campaign.

“The caves of a particular mountain captured overnight are undergoing a thorough search for terrorists who are believed to have fled there in the wake of the ongoing offensive on various terrorist enclaves. Arms are also the object of the cordon and search.

“The Chief of Army Staff, Lt Gen Kenneth Minima has been checking on deployment and troops disposition in various locations of the theatre of the counter terrorist campaign in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe states.

“The army chief who is in company of his Air Force counterpart, Air Marshal Adesola Amosu, also visited troops who were wounded in the course of the operation so far, in the Military Hospital in Maiduguri.

“The Chiefs were assured by the commander of the Hospital, Brig-Gen Okeke that most of the wounded soldiers were in stable condition and that some who have recovered very well, expressed their desire to rejoin their units and colleagues in the operation.

“The army chief however directed that the hospital should not hesitate to let him know the requirement for any case requiring referral or further treatment anywhere.

“The service chiefs are also undertaking a comprehensive air surveillance of the entire mission area in addition to the direct inspection of some key locations where operations are being conducted.”

Poland Speeds Up Missile Defense Plans

WARSAW/WASHINGTON — Poland has decided to speed up its tender for a missile defense system, the Defense Ministry said, in a sign of Warsaw's disquiet over the tension between neighboring Ukraine and Russia.

“By the end of this year we want to already have chosen an offer. That is the acceleration by several months, compared to our original plans, that we are talking about,” Czeslaw Mroczek, Deputy Defense Minister, told Reuters.

The NATO member had planned to determine the supplier of its missile defense system in 2015, but the crisis in Ukraine and concerns about Russia's annexation of Crimea have prompted officials to speed up the timetable.

There are four bidders: France's Thales, in a consortium with European group MBDA and the Polish state defense group; the Israeli government; Raytheon of the United States; and the MEADS consortium led by Lockheed Martin.

One of the bidders, MEADS, said the tender was worth about $5 billion, but experts say the whole missile defense system could be worth as much as 40 billion zlotys ($13 billion), including maintenance costs. It is to be completed by the end of 2022.

Mroczek said the decision to accelerate the process was partly caused by Russia's military intervention in Ukraine's Crimea Peninsula.

“To a certain extent, the decision on accelerating this process is the result of a review commissioned by the prime minister and the defense minister because of the situation in Ukraine,” Mroczek said.

Poland fell under Soviet domination after World War II, along with the rest of Eastern Europe, but was one of the first to shake off Communist rule in 1989. It has taken an active diplomatic role in the crisis over Ukraine, including by requesting NATO consultations earlier this month.

U.S. Congressman Stephen Lynch welcomed Poland's decision to speed up its defense plans.

“I think the action in Crimea makes it abundantly clear that NATO needs to do more to upgrade its defenses, not just missile defenses,” the Massachusetts Democrat told Reuters.

“But certainly I can fully support the decision by Poland to expedite that whole process and I think it's entirely appropriate that we should support that effort,” he added.

The first phase of the Polish system is to comprise eight sets of mid-range interceptor rockets, which may later be supplemented by short-range ones. Poland has already passed legislation to secure funding for the shield, a Defense Ministry spokesman said.

The planned system is separate from elements of a U.S. missile shield to be deployed in Poland by 2018, as confirmed by U.S. Vice President Joe Biden on a visit to Warsaw this week.

VOA News

22 Chinese Arrested For Illegal Fishing In Nigeria’s Waters

PORT HARCOURT, March 18, 2014 (AFP) – The Nigerian navy said on Tuesday that it had arrested 22 Chinese nationals for fishing in its territorial waters without permits and travel passports.

Four foreign vessels and their crew were held in the operation, Commodore Godwin Ochai told reporters in Onne, outside the southern oil city of Port Harcourt.

“When our troops went on board… they discovered that the four vessels had no immigration documents, neither did its 22 crew members have international passports,” he added.

“We discovered that the suspects did not have any form of permit to engage in fishing activities in the nation’s territorial waters.”

The suspects, who were arrested last Friday, were later handed over to Nigeria’s immigration service for further investigation, Ochai said.

The impounded vessels were carrying several tons of fish. Television footage showed images of the Chinese nationals being paraded before reporters.

Ochai alleged that the Chinese had breached international maritime laws and procedure by fishing in Nigerian waters without authorization.

“The Nigerian navy… will continue to go after both foreign and domestic threats capable of undermining the nation’s security and economy,” he said.

“We will go after them, arrest them and put them forward for prosecution.”

A Nigerian immigration officer, Briggs Dawaye, said that a thorough probe would be conducted

Missing Malaysia Plane: Search Between Indonesia And Indian Ocean - T.B Joshua Directs Authorities

Revered Nigerian Prophet, T.B Joshua has directed Malaysian authorities and other institution looking for the missing Malaysian plane to look ‘between Indonesia and the Indian Ocean’. According to him, authorities must go deep in the ocean and they will find scattered particles of the aircraft. Flight MH370 took off from Kuala Lumpur International Airport just after midnight on Saturday and it has since disappeared which has left investigators, aviation experts and other authorities in several countries at a loss to explain what happened. There were 239 people on-board the plane. The airline said it did not receive any distress messages or emergency signals from the pilot before it "disappeared off the radar." The man of God had earlier indicated that ‘the plane concerned is deep inside the sea’. He added that none of the 239 passengers will survive. Prophesying to his church members as well as viewers all over the world on Saturday, 15th March 2014, the man of God said: “They should look between Indonesia and Indian Ocean because the particles of the plane has scattered and gone everywhere” The head pastor of the Synagogue Church Of All Nation (SCOAN) disclosed that the pilot of the plane ‘lost signal, lost his bearings’ causing the plane to be ‘diverted’. According to him, “there are some strange people inside the plane; strange people that are not supposed to be inside. The pilot lost signal, the plane diverted and lost his bearings. The pilot confronted a situation he could not handle” He however sent a word of consolation to the families of the passengers and added that “the whole thing has come to an end; they will discover the plane; particles, and everything will end any moment from now. This coming week, we are not going to talk about it again and the families will know their fate”. Also Read: Did the Nigerian cleric really predict the missing Boeing 777?

Liberian Lawmakers Demand Answers on Foreign Lobbying Fees

VOA - Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has denied allegations that her government spent more than $200 million in lobbying fees to foreign firms in the United States.

In a letter to the plenary of the Liberian House of Representatives, Sirleaf said it is “preposterous” for anyone to believe that her government could spend such an amount.

She said only the US firm KRL lobbied on behalf of Liberia from 2007 to 2013 and was paid a total of a little over $368,000.

But Representative Bhofal Chambers of the oppositionCongress for Democratic Change, who has called for an official inquiry, said Sirleaf and her government should cooperate fully.

Citing a US State Department report, Chambers said that from 2006 to 2009, 102 lobby payments were tracked by foreign lobby trackers, amounting to an alleged $263 million

“I think the communication from the President, if she says from 2007, now she has not looked at 2006, which we discovered to be the amount of $19 million.  Let’s say $19.7 million that was spent for 2009 for lobbying and public relations,” he said.

Chambers listed a host of other companies, which he said were paid huge sums for lobbying for Liberia.

“She said 2007.  She said KRL.  Okay, let’s look at 2007 from the documents we have.  We have JWI, one group that did public relationship work for (Monrovia), and the amount spent was $31, 933.38.  The next one is LISCR (the Liberia International Ship and Corporate Registry) for lobbying. It’s $6.5 million.  So, we want the president to come forth and tell us what she knows,” he said.

He said the legislature is concerned about the alleged large sums of money being spent for lobbying abroad, while the country has nothing to show for the money spent.

“We have gross deficits in Liberia in terms of infrastructure at home, in terms of employment, in terms of welfare.  There are so many gaps and our people cannot afford,” Chambers said.

Yet, said Chambers, Sirleaf appears to be the most popular leader in the world.
“Internationally, we hear so many good things about our president, and this president of ours has got more accolades than the Pope, has got more accolades than the President of United States, than Russia’s leader, and the great leader of Germany, Angela Merkel.  And yet, there is nothing that we can show for, to say that, because this amount was spent, this is what we are seeing in Liberia. So, that is why we are concerned.  When so much is alleged to be spent for these kinds of exercises, what is the value of the money?” Chambers said.

"Russia Can Turn U.S. To Radioactive Ash": Kremlin-backed Journalist

MOSCOW (Reuters) - A Kremlin-backed journalist issued a stark warning to the United States about Moscow's nuclear capabilities on Sunday as the White House threatened sanctions over Crimea's referendum on union with Russia.

"Russia is the only country in the world that is realistically capable of turning the United States into radioactive ash," television presenter Dmitry Kiselyov said on his weekly current affairs show.

Behind him was a backdrop of a mushroom cloud following a nuclear blast.

Kiselyov was named by President Vladimir Putin in December as the head of a new state news agency whose task will be to portray Russia in the best possible light.

His remarks took a propaganda war over events in Ukraine to a new level as tensions rise in the East-West standoff over Crimea, a southern Ukrainian region which is now in Russian forces' hands and voted on Sunday on union with Russia.

Russian television showed images of ethnic Russians in Crimea dancing, singing and celebrating the referendum but followed them with accusations that Kiev's new authorities and the West have allowed ultra-nationalists to attack Russian-speakers in eastern Ukraine.

Kiev and the West blame the violence in eastern Ukraine on pro-Russian groups and say the Crimea referendum is illegitimate. The United States has warned of imminent sanctions against Moscow.

OUTSPOKEN COMMENTS

Kiselyov is an outspoken defender of Putin and once caused outrage by saying the organs of homosexuals should not be used in transplants.

His show portrayed the Ukrainian authorities as unable to maintain law and order. Putin made a similar charge in a telephone conversation with U.S. President Barack Obama on Sunday.

Such remarks have caused concern in Kiev that Moscow might send troops to eastern Ukraine, acting on a vote in Russian parliament allowing him to use the armed forces if compatriots are deemed in need of protection in Ukraine.

As the crisis escalated, the news in Russia has taken on shades of Soviet-era propaganda, with reporters peppering reports with references to what they say was the cooperation of some Ukrainians with the Nazis in World War Two.

There is also now growing menace in some of the reports, as well as echoes of the Cold War.

Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev gifted Crimea to Ukraine in 1954, when Ukraine and Russia were both parts of the Soviet Union.

Many people in Crimea hope union with Russia will bring better living conditions and make them citizens of a country capable of asserting itself on the world stage.

Others see the referendum as a land grab by the Kremlin as Ukraine's new rulers try to move the country towards the European Union and away from Russia's sway.

Source

HORRIBLE: Mother Keeps Dead Baby In Freezer For 2 Years

A French mother was charged late on Monday after police found her dead baby in a freezer, where it had apparently laid for the past two years, prosecutors said. Police were at the home of a 27-year-old French woman on Saturday in the northern French city of Lisbourg for an unrelated reason when her boyfriend told officers about the macabre secret in the freezer. After finding the baby’s frozen corpse, the mother told officers that the child had been born alive at home, but died a few days later for reasons that remain unclear. She hid the body of the newborn in the freezer, where it remained for two years. 

The circumstances of the baby’s death "are unclear but there is really no evidence to suspect an intention to kill the child," Roy said. Late on Monday the mother was indicted on charges of causing death through lack of care. She is currently under judicial supervision. Many questions remain unanswered about the baby, including its age and how long it had lived for. Police believe the woman and her 29-year-old boyfriend had “recently” got together, though they didn’t offer further detail. 

The couple were living together in the home, which he owns, where the baby was discovered. The boyfriend is apparently not the biological father of the child, yet he still faces charges for not reporting the existence of the dead baby to police. Prosecutors said he knew of the corpse in the freezer for a “couple weeks.” So far the mother has given conflicting statements when explaining how the baby ended up in the freezer. "It's a little difficult to get the facts from the mother, who is a little bit lost ," the prosecutor said.

The case is also troubling because the couple have a combined total four other children between them, who range in age from four months to seven years old. Police said the mother has two kids, the boyfriend has one and they have one child in common. However, the mother’s children were with their father at the time police found the body, so they won’t have to be placed into foster care. This is not the only recent case of a French mother being charged over the death of newborn babies found in a freezer. Indeed there have been a number of cases in recent years, which have been linked to extreme cases of "pregnancy denial". 

Congolese Warlord Convicted Of War Crimes At International Court

Congolese warlord Germain Katanga was convicted on Friday of being an accessory to war crimes including murder and pillage during an attack on a village more than a decade ago, but also cleared of a number of other charges.

The trial has been seen as a test of the ability of prosecutors at the International Criminal Court in The Hague, which had handed down only one conviction and one acquittal in 12 years, to bring solid cases.

Judges found that Katanga had made a significant contribution to a February 2003 attack on the village of Bogoro, in a diamond-rich region of north-east Congo, in particular by procuring guns to speed the massacre of some 200 civilians.

"The timing of the attack and the methods used - encircling the village while its inhabitants were still asleep, the use of machetes to attack them, and shooting indiscriminately - led the chamber to find that combatants intended to target the civilian population," said presiding judge Bruno Cotte.

Attackers had fired indiscriminately as villagers sought shelter in the bush, Cotte added. "Absent that supply of weapons ... commanders would not have been able to carry out the attack with such efficiency."

But the conviction, at the end of a six-year trial, was controversial. In a dissenting opinion, judge Christine van den Wijngaerdt said the decision to convict Katanga as an accessory, when he had originally been charged with playing an essential role in the attack, meant his trial was unfair.

Source