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http://ift.tt/2sK89w7 Former FBI director James Comey is sworn in during a hearing before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence on Capitol Hill June 8, 2017 in Washington, DC. Comey took the stand Thursday in a crucial Senate hearing, repeating explosive allegations that President Donald Trump badgered him over the highly sensitive investigation Russia's meddling in the 2016 election. / AFP PHOTO / Brendan Smialowski Washington buzzed with new questions Friday after ousted FBI director James Comey accused President Donald Trump of lies and defamation, in gripping testimony that undermined an already troubled White House. During almost three hours of extraordinarily frank statements before a Senate committee Thursday, Comey described himself as “stunned” by Trump’s “very disturbing” and “very concerning” behavior in several meetings. Detailing one-on-one talks with a sitting president — which under normal circumstances are private — Comey said he took painstaking notes f...

http://ift.tt/2qwfDnH PHOTO:AFP Mike Flynn, Donald Trump’s fired national security adviser, told the president-elect’s transition team that he was the subject of a federal investigation, but was hired for the post anyway, the New York Times reported late Wednesday. The daily, citing two people familiar with the case, said Flynn told the presidential transition team’s chief lawyer Don McGahn about the investigation on January 4 — weeks before assuming the highly sensitive post. Flynn, who ended up being fired from the position after just 24 days, is at the center of a sprawling federal investigation into alleged Russian interference in the 2016 US presidential election. The White House has said that Flynn was dismissed for misleading Vice President Mike Pence about a phone call with the Russian ambassador, during which he reportedly discussed ways of softening US sanctions on Russia. News reports said Trump repeatedly tried, without success, to get FBI director James Comey ...

http://ift.tt/2rpO0tP Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir PHOTO: AFP<br /> Saudi Arabia has invited Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, who is wanted for alleged war crimes, to a summit with US President Donald Trump and Arab and Muslim leaders, a Saudi official said Wednesday. “He (Bashir) is invited,” the official told AFP without saying whether the Sudanese leader would attend the top-level talks on Sunday. Trump is scheduled to visit Saudi Arabia, home to Islam’s holiest sites, from Saturday on his first foreign trip since taking office in January. He will address the summit on his “hopes for a peaceful vision of Islam,” the White House said Tuesday. Bashir has evaded arrest since his indictment by the International Criminal Court in 2009 for alleged genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity related to the conflict in Darfur in which at least 300,000 people have been killed. He denies the charges. The Hague-based ICC was set up in 2002 as a court of last re...

http://ift.tt/2pHZZ5G Governor Aminu Tambuwal of Sokoto State. The All Progressive Congress (APC) controlled states have proposed the setting up of a Security Trust Funds to tackle security challenges in the country. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that this was part of the recommendations reached at the second quarterly meeting of the Secretaries to the Governments of APC-controlled States in Sokoto. The meeting held under the auspices of the Progressive Governors Forum (PGF), on May 11 and 12, 2017 was hosted by the Sokoto State Government. The meeting had as its theme: ”Setting Enabling Framework for Implementation of Progressive Governors’ Forum Policy Briefs.” A Communique issued at the end of the meeting in Sokoto on Saturday said that ”the plan to set up the fund was in furtherance of the decision reached at its inaugural meeting held in Lagos. ”Participants advised that member States adopt and adapt the Security Trust Fund model law produced from PGF’s Le...

http://ift.tt/2qv2xb7 FIFA President Gianni Infantino attends the 67th FIFA Congress in the Bahraini capital Manama on May 11, 2017. / AFP PHOTO / JACK GUEZ Gianni Infantino slammed “fake news” surrounding FIFA in an impassioned speech to the annual congress of world football’s governing body in Bahrain on Thursday. Infantino — elected as president last year on the back of FIFA’s greatest scandal but who has been criticised for his committment to real reform — also claimed corruption could “never again” happen. “Sadly the truth is not necessarily the truth, but it is what people believe is true,” he told a packed hall of delegates. “Fake news, alternative facts, these terms did not until some time ago, they have become en vogue.” He continued: “There’s a lot of fake news and alternative facts about FIFA circulating, FIFA-bashing has become a national sport, especially in some countries.” But, alternating between English, French, German and Spanish, Infantino said his orga...

http://ift.tt/2nGYx6o Willie Obiano The former chairmen of local government councils in Anambra, who served between 2014 and 2016, have appealed to the state government to pay their entitlements. They also threatened not to support him in the next governorship elections in the state if they were not paid the money. One of the ex-council chiefs, who pleaded anonymity, made the appeal while speaking with newsmen in Awka on Thursday. He said the councils’ chairmen were worried that several weeks after a four-page letter on the issue was sent to Gov. Willie Obiano, the state government had not responded. According to the letter, made available to newsmen, each of the ex-chairmen is demanding about N22 million, said to be the shortfall of their approved take-home pay. He said the money was legitimate as contained in the Revenue Mobilisation and Fiscal Commission (RMFC) Law Vol. 1, 2007. He said the 14-day ultimatum as contained in the letter given to the state government elaps...