Chadian soldiers recapture Nigerian town from B’Haram

Chadian soldiers have smoked out the Boko Haram insurgents out of Malumfatori town in north-eastern Nigeria, a top security source said.

One of our correspondents gathered on Thursday that the recapture of the town, which lies near the borders of Chad and Niger, followed two days of fighting between the insurgents and the soldiers.

Both ground and air forces are reported to have been used in the assault.

It was learnt that the Chadian soldiers moved into the town which was earlier seized by the Boko Haram sect after crossing Lake Chad. It is not known if the operation was approved by Nigeria.

However, the Nigerian military confirmed that the town had been recaptured but said that the feat was performed by soldiers from the Multinational Task involved in the ongoing operation against the insurgents in the North-East.

Ogun: Woman accuses Lebanese couple of torture

A woman, Mrs. Grace Okpara, has reported to the police that she was allegedly tortured by her bosses, who are Lebanon nationals.

Our correspondent gathered that Grace worked as a cleaner at a logistics company in Ibafo, Ogun State, where the Lebanese couple - Joseph and Hala Yasbek - were members of the management.

It was learnt that on Wednesday, January 14, Grace, who claimed she was dragged on the ground by her bosses during an argument, reported the matter at the Ibafo Police Division.

Speaking with PUNCH Metro, 37-year-old Grace who hails from Ishan, Edo State, said she was assaulted for alleged dereliction of duty.

She said, "I work as a cleaner at the Lebanese company, and I earn N20,000 as salary. The incident happened on January 14 at about 11.30am. We were three working as cleaners in the company.

"That day, Hala said I did not clean the premises very well, but as I tried to explain, she kicked me and I fell. Minutes later when the husband showed up, I reported Hala to him, but he also slapped me.

"I fell ill after the incident and went to the hospital for treatment. I was treated at a private hospital in Ibafo. I was discharged on Thursday and then went to report to the police. The fee for my treatment was paid by the police at Ibafo."

Grace's husband, Uzoma, said they had also reported the matter to the National Human Rights Commission.

35 years in prison for Saudi man in Vegas case

LAS VEGAS: A Saudi Arabian air force sergeant who arrived in Las Vegas for New Year’s Eve two years ago may never get to leave Nevada after being sentenced Wednesday to a minimum of 35 years in state prison for kidnapping and sexually abusing a 13-year-old boy at a Las Vegas Strip hotel.
Mazen Alotaibi, 25, stared at the courtroom floor as the boy’s mother sobbed that her son’s life was ruined and Judge Stefany Miley imposed the mandatory sentence for sexual assault with a minor under the age of 14.
Alotaibi didn’t testify at trial in October 2013, and he didn’t speak Wednesday. With time already served, he will be 57 before he is first eligible for parole.
“This idea that you can come in here and ... do the things you want and then you get to leave, and ‘What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas’ is wrong,” prosecutor Jacqueline Bluth said. “That’s all about show. It’s not real life.”
Defense attorney Dominic Gentile said he intends to appeal Alotaibi’s conviction and sentence.
Gentile, a prominent Nevada criminal defense and constitutional lawyer and adjunct law school professor, said he’ll also argue that world events made it impossible for Alotaibi to get a fair trial.
“Mazen Alotaibi is an Arab Muslim,” Gentile said. “I don’t believe he can get a fair trial in America today because of overwhelming bias and prejudice.”
The Associated Press is withholding the boy and his mother’s name to avoid identifying a victim of a sex crime. The boy is now 15 and lives with his family in California.
Alotaibi came to the US for military training at Keesler Air Force Base in Biloxi, Mississippi, and Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland in Texas.
Bluth acknowledged the boy made a bad decision to seek marijuana from Alotaibi as they passed in a Circus Circus hotel hallway shortly after dawn Dec. 31, 2012.
The boy testified at trial that he was lured by the smelled of pot smoke.
Bluth said Wednesday that Alotaibi was lured by Las Vegas’ marketing as Sin City, and recklessly capitalized on the boy’s decision.
Alotaibi’s trial lawyer, Don Chairez, later maintained that the boy traded sex for the promise of marijuana. But Nevada state law says a child under 16 can’t consent to sex.
Gentile lost a bid to get the judge to reconsider Alotaibi’s conviction on grounds that Alotaibi was too drunk to know he was committing a crime.
The defense attorney said he intends to appeal to the Nevada Supreme Court for a new trial, arguing that Alotaibi was badly represented by Chairez.
Reached by telephone, Chairez defended his work as “excellent.” He said he also discussed appeal strategy with Gentile.
“For Mr. Alotaibi’s sake, I hope this is one of the grounds that will be successful and the court grants him a new trial,” Chairez said.

Argentine Government Believes Nisman’s Accusation Will End Up in the Garbage Can

BUENOS AIRES – The Argentine government again discredited the late prosecutor Alberto Nisman’s accusation that President Cristina Fernandez provided cover for the suspected Iranian perpetrators of the 1994 attack on the Jewish organization AMIA, and said it will end up “in the garbage can.”

“He couldn’t have written such a thing. Reading the text he sent his friends, he talks about making the accusation of his life. No one could call that pathetic complaint the accusation of his life,” the secretary general of the presidency, Anibal Fernandez, told reporters.

Fernandez once again raised doubts about who really wrote the accusation and seemed convinced that “it will end as it must: in the garbage can,” in a statement made at the seat of the Argentine government.

The official also defended the publication of information about journalist Damian Pachter, the first to report Nisman’s death, and how he fled the country fearing for his life.

“Article 10 of the Personal Data Law clearly says that personal information may be made public by judicial decision and when based on reasons founded on public concerns. This is one such case. We see unfounded fear and make the information public in the best possible way,” Fernandez said.

Nisman was found dead from a shot in the head on the night of Jan. 18. He was scheduled to appear in Congress the next day to explain in detail his accusation against the Argentine president, Exterior Minister Hector Timerman and several ruling party leaders, for presumably orchestrating a plan to protect the Iranians suspected of attacking the Jewish organization AMIA in 1994, which left 85 people dead.

Mexican Police Chief Killed in Ambush- grenades thrown

VERACRUZ, Mexico – A municipal police chief in the Mexican state of Veracruz was killed and four of his officers badly wounded in an ambush, authorities said.

The attack took place early Tuesday on a highway in the southern part of the Gulf coast state.

Armando Sanchez Garibay, the police commander in the town of Lerdo de Tejada, and four subordinates were traveling in a patrol vehicle when they were assaulted by gunmen aboard two pick-up trucks.

The attackers hurled grenades and fired bursts from automatic weapons, leaving the police vehicle in flames.

Sanchez Garibay died en route to a hospital and the other four officers remain hospitalized.

Veracruz state police and army troops rushed to the scene, arresting two suspects and seizing the pick-up trucks abandoned by the assailants.

Political Activist Slain in Western Mexico- Gunned down

MORELIA, Mexico – The former local chief of Mexico’s conservative National Action Party in this western city was gunned down in front of his home, the Michoacan state police said.

Eduardo Flores Vizcaino, a prominent developer, headed the Morelia office of the party, known by the acronym PAN, from 2005-2007.

He was fatally shot when he emerged from his residence, located about 1 kilometer (0.6 miles) from the Michoacan statehouse, where officials were outlining a new strategy to apprehend the leader of the Caballeros Templarios drug cartel, Servando “La Tuta” Gomez Martinez.

The state chairman of the PAN, Miguel Angel Chavez Zavala, demanded that authorities track down and punish the authors of the “regrettable deed.”

“With this case there are 10 National Action officials and leaders who have been victims of the state of violence and insecurity that Michoacan is experiencing,” the PAN said in a statement.

Mexico’s No. 2 public official, Government Secretary Miguel Angel Osorio Chang, announced last week that President Enrique Peña Nieto had decided to eliminate the post of federal commissioner for security and development in Michoacan.

He shared the news during a public hearing in Morelia to review the strategy the federal government has followed since intervening in Michoacan a year ago amid conflict between organized crime and vigilante groups.

The federal intervention in Michoacan met with some success initially, including the arrest of leading figures in the Templarios cartel and the incorporation of many of the vigilantes into an army-controlled Rural Force.

But violence flared in the state again last month, when 11 people died in an incident involving rival factions of the Rural Force.

Obama ’delusional’ on possible Iran deal: Senator McCain

Returning from Saudi Arabia, Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain told CNBC on Wednesday he’s most concerned about the threat posed by Iran. 
'There’s a delusion that somehow we’re going to have an agreement with Iran ... [and] that we’ll all be working together,' the Arizona Republican said in a 'Squawk Box' interview. 'Iranians are on the march in the Mideast.' 
McCain said the Saudis 'perceive a lack of strong American leadership,' as Iran gains significant influence in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, and Yemen. 
McCain joined the president and other bipartisan U.S. dignitaries in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday to pay respects to the late King Abdullah and to meet the new leader of the oil-rich nation, King Salman. 
The leadership transition is going smoothly, and Salman’s rule will be 'in keeping the Saudi policies' toward the U.S. and the region, McCain said. 
'The Saudis are more frightened, and I’m more concerned about the rise of ISIS [Islamic State militants] and even more about the incursions by Iran in different countries,' he added.
McCain offered solutions to these growing threats. 'We should arm the Free Syrian Army. We should have more American boots on the ground in Iraq and Syria in the form of forward air controllers, intelligence capabilities, [and] special forces.' He said the U.S. needs to understand that Iraq and Syria are not different conflicts.