Second American arrested in ISIS-linked NYC bomb plot

Federal prosecutors charged a 21-year-old New Jersey man on Thursday with attempting to help ISIS militants and conspiring with three other Americans.

Authorities arrested Samuel Rahamin Topaz at his Fort Lee, New Jersey, home on Wednesday for providing "material support" to the terrorist organization. He appeared in a New Jersey court on Thursday afternoon.

A law enforcement official told CNN that one of the three individuals Topaz allegedly conspired with is Munther Omar Saleh, who authorities say was behind an ISIS-inspired plot with others to build and detonate a bomb in New York.

Saleh was arrested earlier this week.


Prosecutors charge that Topaz hoped to travel overseas to join ISIS and discussed his plans with three other Americans, who are not named in the filed documents. Those communications -- including plans to purchase plane tickets and attempts to "lay low" to avoid law enforcement -- were intercepted by authorities.

The conspiracy count could land Topaz with up to 15 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, according to a criminal complaint.

Topaz allegedly communicated with Saleh, a 20-year-old U.S. citizen from Queens who looked to explode a device in the New York metro area.

The FBI has increasingly been monitoring potential suspects with ties to ISIS after two ISIS-inspired gunmen led an attack in Garland, Texas, last month.

   

Buhari to move into Aso Villa, announce some appointments next week

 After spending nearly three weeks in the saddle, President Muhammadu Buhari is set to move into the Presidential Villa and commence serious business of governance next week, a competent Presidency source confirmed to Vanguard.

Since being declared winner of the 2015 Presidential election, Buhari has been operating from the Defence House in Maitama and has been conducting official business of government from there, having taken over the mantle of leadership on May 29, 2015 from former President Goodluck Jonathan.

But authoritative Presidency sources told Vanguard that Buhari was set to move into the Presidential Villa before the end of the week and might also name the first set of top government officials to kick-start the administration, which has witnessed a lull in the last three weeks.


Vanguard learnt that the President was ready to move from Defence House to the Villa possibly early next week following completion of renovation of the President’s residence by the company which handled the project.

“It is true that the construction company has completed the President’s wing and he is set to move in any moment from now. As at today, it is only the Vice President’s residence that is yet to be fully completed.

“We expect that the two men will move into the villa by next week since the work in the Vice President’s apartment is not a serious one,” an official in the Presidency explained to Vanguard.

The source explained that Buhari was set to begin naming some key officials of his government as soon as he moves into the Villa to prepare the grounds for the take off of serious work for Nigerians who have been expecting action from the administration.

Fashola, Fayemi, others fine-tune 800-page report

As a prelude to setting up his administration, Buhari has reportedly handed over the 800-page Transition Committee Report to a trusted team of his associates, headed by former Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Fashola; former Ekiti governor,  Kayode Fayemi  and others to reduce into a sizable and workable document.

Fashola is being tipped to emerge as Chief of Staff to the President because of his pedigree as a former Chief of Staff, governor and a Senior Advocate of Nigeria.

An impeccable source said that it was Buhari who instructed that after all others had completed working on transition report, they should hand over the voluminous document to Fashola to reduce into an implementable format for him to read and take necessary actions.

The source said: “Hopefully, from next week, some appointments would be announced. Buhari is a fast reader and he will be able to take immediate actions based on the transition report.”

A member of the Buhari Transition Committee, who pleaded anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the matter, confirmed to Vanguard that the final report presented to the president last week was a comprehensive document meant to guide him in taking decisions as to the shape and nature of his administration to bring about the needed change in the country.

The member said that what they presented to the President was more of a blueprint and how best to go about it in order to bring the country out of the woods.

The member said: “The final report is very rich and we believe it will help Mr. President in putting a solid structure of his government and give him policy direction as well.”

Greek central bank warns of 'painful' euro and EU exit

Greece's central bank has warned for the first time that the country could be on a "painful course" to default and exit from both the eurozone and the EU.

It comes as the Greek government and its international creditors blamed each other for failing to reach a deal over economic reforms.

That failure is holding up the release of €7.2bn (£5.2bn) in bailout funds.

About €30bn was withdrawn from Greek bank deposits between October and April, the central bank added.

The central bank also warned the country's economic slowdown would accelerate without a deal.
 Greeks are wondering if they will have to resurrect their past, including their old currency, as James Reynolds reports

"Failure to reach an agreement would... mark the beginning of a painful course that would lead initially to a Greek default and ultimately to the country's exit from the euro area and, most likely, from the European Union," the Bank of Greece said in a report.

"Striking an agreement with our partners is a historical imperative that we cannot afford to ignore."

Despite the warning, Greek shares rose 0.8% in mid-morning trade on the Greek stock exchange. The Athens benchmark index has fallen 11% since Friday, with bank shares worst affected.
'Solidarity'

Austrian Chancellor Werner Faymann was in Athens on Wednesday in a last-ditch bid to end the standoff.

"For Europe to be stronger, it must show solidarity and support to any country which needs it," he said during a meeting with Greek President Prokopis Pavlopoulos.

That came ahead of a meeting of euro zone finance ministers on Thursday although officials have played down expectations of a make-or-break decision being reached.

The Austrian chancellor's comments followed a harsher critique from European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, who on Tuesday accused the Greek government of misleading voters, as Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras accused the EU and International Monetary Fund (IMF) of trying to "humiliate" his country.
Greece - deal or no deal?

    Option 1: No deal: Greece defaults on IMF and ECB repayments; ECB pulls plug on emergency bank assistance leading to run on Greek banks, capital controls and potential Grexit
    Option 2: Greece agrees reform deal with creditors at last minute and avoids default, staying in euro
    Option 3: No deal reached but both sides paper over cracks and Greece stays in euro for now

Greece has two weeks remaining to strike a deal with its creditors or face defaulting on an existing €1.6bn (£1.1bn) loan repayment due to the IMF.

The country has already rolled a €300m payment into those due on 30 June.

Mr Juncker said the Greek government had not told the truth about its latest reform proposals.

"I am blaming the Greeks [for telling] things to the Greek public which are not consistent with what I've told the Greek prime minister," Mr Juncker said.

Mr Tsipras has said that the lenders wanted to raise VAT on electricity.
Greek debt talks: main sticking points

    Greece will not accept cuts to pension payments or public sector wages, saying two-thirds of pensioners are either below or near the poverty line
    International creditors want pension spending cut by 1% of GDP - it accounts for 16% of Greek GDP. They say their target is early retirement not individual pensions
    EU officials say Greece has agreed to budget surplus targets of 1% of GDP this year, followed by 2% in 2016 and 3.5% by 2018. Greece says nothing is agreed until everything is agreed
    Creditors also want a wider VAT base; Greece says it will not allow extra VAT on medicines or electricity bills
    Greece complains creditors focus on increasing taxes instead of cracking down on tax evasion; IMF is concerned Athens is not offering credible reforms

Is Greece close to Grexit?

Other Greek ministers have criticised suggestions to increase sales tax on medicines.

But Mr Juncker said: "I'm not in favour, and the prime minister knows that... of increasing VAT on medicaments and electricity. This would be a major mistake."

"The debate in Greece and outside Greece would be easier if the Greek government would tell exactly what the Commission... are really proposing," he added.

Greek finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis claimed that EU proposals did include VAT increases: "Juncker either hadn't read the document he gave Tsipras - or he read it and forgot about it."

Elsewhere in the eurozone, Portugal's short-term borrowing costs rose sharply on Wednesday, with yields on six-month treasury bills jumping from minus 0.002% to 0.044% at the country's latest debt auction.

The rise came despite an assurance to investors from Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho that Portugal would not be "the next to fall" in the event of a Greek default.
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Strong men have destroyed instititutions in Nigeria —BUHARI

Says ‘I joined politics to keep Nigeria one’

President Muhammadu Buhari regretted yesterday that those he regarded as ‘strong men’  have destroyed institutions in Nigeria but promised that his administration would do its best to ensure that institutions bequeathed to the country by the British colonial leaders were restored.

The President who spoke in Johannesburg, South Africa while meeting with the Nigerian community there after the  African Union meeting also said in spite of what  he described as ‘crazy people’ who are trying to ensure the breakup of the country for selfish reasons, Nigeria will remain an indivisible country.

His words: “We have a system in Nigeria. No matter what you say about the British colonialists, they built institutions for us, unfortunately we have destroyed those institutions.

Obama’s first trip to Africa

“When US President, Barack Obama came to Africa which was his first trip, he went to Ghana, but he refused to come to Nigeria. And he said Africa, or developing countries should have strong institutions instead of strong leaders. If he had come to Nigeria, he would have known that it was strong Nigerians that destroyed the strong institutions. And paradoxically, maybe another strong Nigerian will come and revive the institutions and make them strong again.”

President Buhari stated that though he would have wished to be president at a much younger age, he would still do his best to ensure that the country moves forward.

Speaking on why he joined politics, President Buhari said he wanted to meet the expectations of the teeming masses of the people who had continued to troop to him to request for one favour or the other.

He said: “I was afraid Nigeria might be like Somalia. The Somalis are the same people, they are all Muslims but because the elite are self-centered, they have succeeded in making Somalia a war-torn country for the last 20 years.

“For that reason I said Nigerians are much more vulnerable, we have so many nationalities no matter how you look at it, Hausa-Fulanis, Kanuris, Ishekiris, Yorubas, Igbos. We are actually people of different cultures but since 1914, we have merged inspite of religion and culture, married across, produced children and only crazy people can think of balkanising Nigeria. But we are not short of crazy people and that is the frightening part of it.

Joining partisan politics

“In April 2002 when I decided to join Nigeria’s partisan politics, I invited a few people to my ward in Daura, where I told them that I myself and those who knew me in the military would not have believed that I will join Nigerian partisan politics. But there I found myself in it.

Two fundamental reasons were responsible for my entry into politics. After being a governor of now six states – Yobe, Borno, Bauchi, Adamawa, Taraba, and Gombe,  I was Petroleum Minister under Obasanjo for three and half years, then Head of State, then chairman of PTF. And the most irritating thing was that of all these positions I have held before, people didn’t remember, they only remember my days at PTF because I bought bedsheets and put in hospitals and some x-ray machines and some buses for the schools. They remember me more as chairman of PTF than as a former Head of State, than a governor or a minister of petroleum, in spite of the fact that it was during my time that I signed the contract for Warri refinery, and Kaduna refinery. More than 3,500 pipes were laid  with more than 20 depots, we got the tankers off the road, we saved lives, we saved fuel, we save the road itself. But from 1999 till date PDP has messed it up. That is why Nigerians decided to vote me.

My election

“My election is a proof that Nigerians know what they want once they make up their minds. You can give them the money, some refused to take it, some took it and said it is our money and they did exactly what they wanted to do.

“So why did I join partisan politics in spite of that? When I went home people knew that I have no money and I thought they will leave me alone, but they didn’t, they were coming to me asking me to do this and do that. And  I found that the only way I could do it is by joining partisan politics. And maybe if I speak even if I’m not a member at any level, people will listen to me.

“But then I joined the opposition, I joined APP (All Peoples Party). I didn’t want any political office at first, if I wanted I would have joined PDP then and maybe I would have got to where I am much earlier. But then I wanted to go with the opposition.

“The second reason I had that finally convinced me to join partisan politics, was what happened to Soviet Union.

“You know the Soviet Union was an empire in the 20th century that collapsed without a shot being fired. Everybody went home, there was confusion. Now there are 18 countries out of the old Soviet Union.  They were more advanced than the western countries in science because they wanted to go to space specifically in 1957, and they had  more nuclear war heads and systems than NATO.

“And that was when I decided and I believed that the best form of governance is multi-party democracy with a big caveat, election must be free and fair. And that was why I was in trouble.

I moved from APP to ANPP to CPC, eventually to APC.

“I contested in 2003, spent 30 months in the courts and ended up in Supreme Court. I contested in 2007, spent about 20 months in the courts, ended up in Supreme Court. I contested in 2011 and spent about eight months in the courts, all ending up in Supreme Court. Why was I doing it? I know the reason. I believed in it!

“In all those cases from High Court to Supreme Court, we sent people to the field, they found out why the elections were not fair, they came to the court and gave evidence but in the end, they will say oh well! There were some flaws in the elections but PDP has won. At last the PDP has lost!

“I have gone to this extent to tell you that when you make up your mind about anything positive, don’t be discouraged! Keep on trying!

“How I wish I became head of state when I was a governor, just a few years as a youngman, now at 72, there is a limit  to what I can do. I was in the war front for 30 months during our civil war, I lost a lot of loyal people to me, I lost a relative,  a lot of Nigerians died too. So nobody should come now and tell us rubbish! We are going to remain one country. God has given us another opportunity to reorganise this country. Those who work hard, the society will pay them back” he said.

While enjoining Nigerians in South Africa to be good ambassadors of Nigeria, he promised that he will discuss with President Zuma to return Nigeria’s money that was seized from South Africa during the Jonathan administration.

“I’m told there are 83 Nigerians in prison, I don’t know what they have done but I spoke to the President of South Africa this afternoon. He wants to come to Nigeria. There are issues he knows we will like to talk about, I hope our ambassador will send a comprehensive report about the court cases, and about those who lost properties during the disturbances. And at that time I will attempt to ask him about our $9.7 million which was not correctly transfered.

World leaders ready to assist Nigeria

President Buhari also said he has spoken with world leaders and they are ready to assist Nigeria tackle the insurgency problems in the country.

“I met Obama, President of France, Chancellor of Germany, Prime Minister of Japan and  members of the G7, they invited me and I went. They are all anxious to help Nigeria to tackle insecurity especially in the north east

“We are getting our facts together, our logistics requirements and so on. For the north east, the Lake Chad Basin Commission – Nigeria, Chad, Niger, Cameroon and Benin, have tried to come in. We have developed headquarters in Njamena, a Nigerian General is heading it, we have dedicated a number of troops ourselves and the location where they will be and by the end of July they will be in place and then we will make sure that since Niigeria was a battle ground we eliminate Boko Haram” he said.

Subsidy payments: Oil marketers yet to resume fuel import

  Despite  the seeming resolution of the conflict between the Federal Government and oil marketers over the petroleum subsidy claims payment, data, yesterday, showed that Nigeria’s fuel import has remained low due to oil marketers’ apathy.

This came as Nigeria’s crude oil export received a boost, as a Canadian crude oil refining company, Come By Chance Refinery has purchased one million barrels of Nigeria’s Qua Iboe crude grade.

Oil trading sources, according to a report obtained from a global provider of energy and metals information and a source of benchmark price assessments in the physical energy markets, disclosed that imports into Nigeria, about one million metric tonnes (mt)/month making it the region’s largest importer of gasoline, continued at a trickle, due to little guidance from the government.

The sources stated that importers and distribution companies were seeking more solid assurances over the payment of the outstanding subsidy, adding that the refusal of the oil marketers to resume import is a signal that the deal between them and the Federal Government had failed to restore confidence.

The report stated that arbitrage from Northwest Europe to West Africa has acquired increasing importance in recent months, as structurally shrinking arbitrage opportunities to the US Atlantic Coast and the Persian Gulf have limited outlets for Europe’s net-long gasoline market.

A European trading source disclosed that trading of Northwest European gasoline cargoes to West Africa had been quiet, adding that nothing has been done recently.

Meanwhile, data obtained from Reuters showed that Come By Chance’s crude oil purchase, the first in at least a decade, arrived the refinery aboard a Bahamas-flagged ship named M.V. Jiaolong Spirit.

The purchases, the report stated, come as West African crude producers are courting new suitors in the face of weak demand from a U.S. market awash with cheaper, domestic crude.

According to the report, the search for new buyers has forced West African producers to compete aggressively on price, so light sweet Nigerian crude grades like Qua Iboe are being heavily discounted relative to global benchmark Brent crude.

Commenting on the development, Sara Emerson, a Managing Principal at ESAI Energy said, “I suspect the West African crude is priced to sell given the continuing reduction in U.S. imports of light sweet African crude.”

Another source familiar with the refinery’s operations stated that the crude’s relatively cheap price has drawn interest from the 115,000 barrel-per-day Come By Chance refinery, adding that the refinery has made one additional purchase of Nigerian crude.

The report said Nigerian deliveries are the latest sign of a new approach to crude supply by the recent owners of Come By Chance, a team of veteran oil traders including Neal Shear, former commodities banker at Morgan Stanley and ex-Lehman Brothers executive Kaushik Amin, who purchased the refinery in November.