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http://ift.tt/2sEDHCK US Secretary of State John Kerry / AFP PHOTO / dpa / Bodo Marks / Germany OUT Former US secretary of state John Kerry, an architect of the Paris climate accord, Sunday blasted President Donald Trump’s withdrawal from the agreement to cut carbon emissions. “When Donald Trump says to the world, well, we’re going to negotiate a better deal… that’s like O.J. Simpson saying he’s going to find the real killer,” Kerry said in an interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” alluding to the former American football star who was controversially acquitted of killing his former wife. Trump, he said, is not going to renegotiate the treaty despite suggesting he might do so “because he doesn’t believe in it. If you did believe it, you wouldn’t pull out of Paris.” Kerry, who threw his full weight behind the agreement when it was adopted in 2015, bitterly criticized Trump’s unilateral decision to pull out of it. “America has unilaterally ceded global leadership on this issue,...

http://ift.tt/2pSmjgt Russian President Vladimir Putin. / AFP PHOTO / Andrej ISAKOVIC Russian President Vladimir Putin says he had only a brief and passing acquaintance with former US national security adviser Michael Flynn, though the two sat next to each other at a dinner in Moscow in 2015. In an interview to be aired Sunday evening by NBC, Putin minimized his contact with Flynn, who was fired by US President Donald Trump in February after offering misleading descriptions of conversations he had had with Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak. Putin told NBC interviewer Megyn Kelly that the dinner where the two met was routine. “I made my speech. Then we talked about some other stuff. And I got up and left. And then afterwards I was told, ‘You know, there was an American gentleman, he was involved in some things. He used to be in the security services.’” “That’s it,” Putin said, speaking through a translator. “I didn’t even really talk to him. That’s the extent of my acquaint...

http://ift.tt/2sEDHCK US Secretary of State John Kerry / AFP PHOTO / dpa / Bodo Marks / Germany OUT Former US secretary of state John Kerry, an architect of the Paris climate accord, Sunday blasted President Donald Trump’s withdrawal from the agreement to cut carbon emissions. “When Donald Trump says to the world, well, we’re going to negotiate a better deal… that’s like O.J. Simpson saying he’s going to find the real killer,” Kerry said in an interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” alluding to the former American football star who was controversially acquitted of killing his former wife. Trump, he said, is not going to renegotiate the treaty despite suggesting he might do so “because he doesn’t believe in it. If you did believe it, you wouldn’t pull out of Paris.” Kerry, who threw his full weight behind the agreement when it was adopted in 2015, bitterly criticized Trump’s unilateral decision to pull out of it. “America has unilaterally ceded global leadership on this issue,...

http://ift.tt/2pSmjgt Russian President Vladimir Putin. / AFP PHOTO / Andrej ISAKOVIC Russian President Vladimir Putin says he had only a brief and passing acquaintance with former US national security adviser Michael Flynn, though the two sat next to each other at a dinner in Moscow in 2015. In an interview to be aired Sunday evening by NBC, Putin minimized his contact with Flynn, who was fired by US President Donald Trump in February after offering misleading descriptions of conversations he had had with Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak. Putin told NBC interviewer Megyn Kelly that the dinner where the two met was routine. “I made my speech. Then we talked about some other stuff. And I got up and left. And then afterwards I was told, ‘You know, there was an American gentleman, he was involved in some things. He used to be in the security services.'” “That’s it,” Putin said, speaking through a translator. “I didn’t even really talk to him. That’s the extent of my acqu...

http://ift.tt/2sqmnSH Ita Enang, Senior Special Assistant to the President on National Assembly Matters (Senate), says there is no plan to reject the 2017 Budget by the presidency. Senator Ita Enang, Senior Special Assistant to the President on National Assembly Matters (Senate), says there is no plan to reject the 2017 Budget by the presidency. Enang made this known in a statement he issued on Saturday in Abuja, insisting that the presidency was working within the constitutional time-frame required to process details of the budget. “There is no such plan by it to reject the 2017 budget passed by the National Assembly as alleged in some reports. “The presidency can only assent to the budget or withhold assent as the case maybe. “However, should there be areas needing input, the presidency would engage the leadership of the Senate and House of Representatives. “As such, any report suggesting a rejection of the 2017 Budget by the presidency is incorrect,’’ he said. Enang n...

http://ift.tt/2sqmnSH Ita Enang, Senior Special Assistant to the President on National Assembly Matters (Senate), says there is no plan to reject the 2017 Budget by the presidency. Senator Ita Enang, Senior Special Assistant to the President on National Assembly Matters (Senate), says there is no plan to reject the 2017 Budget by the presidency. Enang made this known in a statement he issued on Saturday in Abuja, insisting that the presidency was working within the constitutional time-frame required to process details of the budget. “There is no such plan by it to reject the 2017 budget passed by the National Assembly as alleged in some reports. “The presidency can only assent to the budget or withhold assent as the case maybe. “However, should there be areas needing input, the presidency would engage the leadership of the Senate and House of Representatives. “As such, any report suggesting a rejection of the 2017 Budget by the presidency is incorrect,’’ he said. Enang n...

http://ift.tt/2oAJjPd Minister of trade and investment, Mr Okechukwu Enelamah PHOTO: PHILIP OJISUA Dr Okechukwu Enelamah, the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment said on Tuesday that the two years of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration has been result-oriented, though challenging. Enelamah stated this in Abuja at a Town Hall Meeting organised to celebrate the achievements of President Buhari Administration’s two years in office. He said though there had been challenges occasioned by the battered economy inherited from the previous administration, but that the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment had recorded some achievements. The minister said part of the vision of the ministry, was to champion the course of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) through the implementation of the Nigerian Industrial Revolution Plan, in line with the aspirations of the Federal Government. He said the ministry was also working on an executive order on ‘Ease of Doing Busine...

http://ift.tt/2qe6wri Rafael Nadal.JAVIER SORIANO / AFP Rafael Nadal’s flawless record on clay this season continued as he outgunned the impressive Dominic Thiem to win the Madrid Masters for a fifth time 7-6 (10/8), 6-4 on Sunday. The Spaniard is now 15-0 on his favoured surface this year having also picked up his 10th titles in Monte Carlo and Barcelona in recent weeks. And the 14-time Grand Slam champion is now strong favourite to add a 10th French Open crown next month as he romped to victory on home soil for the loss of just one set all week. Victory also moves Nadal above Roger Federer to fourth in the world rankings. Thiem also fell victim to Nadal’s supreme form in the final in Barcelona two weeks ago, but there was little for the 23-year-old to be dispirited about as he pushed Nadal all the way in his first Masters series final. Nadal disposed of Novak Djokovic for his first win over the Serb for three years on Saturday and victory saw him level Djokovic’s record...

http://ift.tt/2p63Pr3 Onyekpere, who is the Lead Director, Centre for Social Justice, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that dedicating such a huge amount of money showed that the country was indeed, heavily indebted. An Economic expert, Mr Eze Onyekpere, on Sunday in Abuja, called on the Federal Government to make public the nation’s debt profile. He said that letting Nigerians to know the size of the country’s debt was necessary give the N1.84 billion allocated to debt servicing in the 2017 Budget passed by the National Assembly on Thursday. Onyekpere, who is the Lead Director, Centre for Social Justice, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that dedicating such a huge amount of money showed that the country was indeed, heavily indebted. It would, however, be recalled that the Minister of Finance, Mrs Keri Adeosun, recently debunked insinuations that the country’s debt was high. She had at The Platform programme in Lagos explained said that the problem was not that N...

http://ift.tt/2prOIFN NNPC The House of Representatives Ad hoc Committee on Review of Pump Price of Petrol has directed the NNPC and its subsidiaries to make public the true cost of imported petrol. The Chairman of the Committee, Rep. Raphael Igbokwe, gave the directive in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Saturday in Lagos. Igbokwe spoke on the side lines of the committee’s visit to Lagos depots of some private operators involved in transportation and distribution of petrol from the ports to the consumers. NAN reports that the depots visited by the committee are Folawiyo Energy Limited, WOSBAB Energy Solutions, First Royal and Stallionaire Oil & Gas Limited. According to him, NNPC and its subsidiaries sourced 90 per cent of petrol while private marketers sourced only 10 per cent of the product into the country. “The reason for our curiosity and unannounced visit to some depots is that our investigation shows that importation of petrol is no longer...