Tuesday, 3 February 2015

INEC gets Police protection ahead of polls


Abuja - The Police have expressed readiness to ensure the holding of credible polls later this month.
This follows Inspector General of Police (IGP), Suleiman Abba,  directing the Special Protection and Counter Terrorism Units to provide special security for Nigeria Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) material, officials as well as its ad-hoc staff during and after the general elections.

According to a press statement by Emmanuel Ojukwu Force Public Relations Officer, the IGP Police stated this while appraising the preparations for general elections during a briefing with senior officers in Abuja.

Ojukwu said the directive demonstrated the Force's preparedness for the elections.
It was equally restated by the Police High Command that some of the strategies put in place to ensure free and fair polls in February 2015 by Nigeria Police Force are already being implemented,² he said.

The spokesperson added the IGP also allayed fears of the members of the public before, during and after the general elections.

He nonetheless said members of the public are enjoined to fully collaborate with the police and report any suspicious movement in their areas to the nearest police station.
- CAJ News

Chadian troops enter Nigeria

2015-02-03 17:24
Fotokol - Chad sent ground troops into Nigeria for the first time on Tuesday to fight Boko Haram as the Islamist militants escalate their bloody insurgency.

For almost an hour, Chadian aircraft struck Boko Haram positions, then armoured vehicles rolled across the bridge linking Fotokol town in Cameroon with Gamboru in Nigeria, clearing the way for the infantry.

Up until now, Chad's military had conducted air strikes against the armed extremists, while waiting for authorisation to operate on the ground in Nigeria via Cameroon, which has recently endured Boko Haram raids.

The entire Chadian contingent of about 2 000 troops had crossed the frontier by midday without a shot being fired, an AFP correspondent saw.

Chad's President Idriss Deby Itno sent soldiers to Cameroon in mid-January to help take on Boko Haram, whose raids, massacres and abductions are estimated to have claimed 13 000 lives since the movement emerged in northern Nigeria in 2009.

Nigerian authorities said late on Monday that Gamboru had been reclaimed after three days of air strikes by Chadian aircraft against Boko Haram positions in the region.

The Nigerian army, which has been criticised for its inadequacy in failing to crush the insurgency, also announced the recapture of Mafa, Mallam Fatori, Abadam and Marte towns.

The military spokesperson said that previous operations in the northeast of the country had brought about the liberation of 11 towns in Adamawa state, to the east of Borno state, and of Gujba and Gulani, in Yobe state.

Caliphate
The Islamist fighters, who bitterly oppose Western education and seek to establish a broad caliphate under strict Shari'ah law, still control six regions in Adamawa state.

Boko Haram took control of several towns on the northeastern border in a major offensive launched early this year and stepped up attacks against neighbouring countries, mainly Cameroon.

Chadian soldiers have also been deployed at Daboa in the Lake Chad area where the borders of Nigeria, Chad and Niger converge.

A multinational force intended to strike jointly at the radical sect has withdrawn from its base at Baga on the southern shore of Lake Chad because of disagreements between the Nigerian government and its neighbours.

In the meantime, Boko Haram stands accused of many atrocities constituting crimes against humanity in the eyes of the international community.

AFP

Fridges, cars are world’s ‘future’ payment devices

By: Gareth van Zyl  
27 minutes ago
Johannesburg - Fridges and cars are set to join plastic cards as future payment devices.
This is according to Johan Gerber, the group head of Processing Product Management at MasterCard, who was in Johannesburg last week.

Gerber told Fin24 that future payments won’t be tied down to form factors such as credit or debit cards because rapid developments are taking place in the payment technology space.

In the US, Apple Pay already enables iPhone 6 users to make payments thanks to Near Field Communication (NFC) technology. Meanwhile, African countries such as Kenya have experienced surging demand for mobile money transfer technologies such as M-Pesa.

And more devices are forecast to become digital payment machines in future such as cars' dashboards and fridges.
"We're talking about how every device is becoming a commerce device where one of these days your fridge is going to start ordering your milk when it sees it running out or asks you if you want some more orange juice, because it sees you're running out,” Gerber told Fin24.

"We see our role as just being the facilitator of making that as easy and a great experience as possible and obviously within the environment of keeping it safe and secure - and that piece is very, very important,” Gerber said.

Security
Gerber, who is a financial security industry veteran, told Fin24 that there is still “going to be a journey to get there” with regard to ensuring full security for other payment devices such as fridges or cars.
He told Fin24, though, that today’s EMV (Europay, MasterCard and Visa) tech or chip and PIN cards are set to “blaze” the way forward for a greater number of payment mediums in future.

EMV technology is among the safest payment tool as it ensures a dynamic method of payment via the likes of a cryptogram: a variable that ensures safer payments when compared to ‘static’ magnetic strip cards, for example.

Future payment mediums then could be ‘layered’ on top of EMV technology, said Gerber.
“So, we're looking at integrating the same level and security of strength that's in an EMV card irrespective of the form factor. And if you think of things like Apple Pay, that's really what it does. It brings that EMV strength into the rest of the ecosystem,” Gerber said.

"There's going to be a journey to get there.

"The form factor will become irrelevant, the strength will be consistent irrespective of the channel through which the consumer transacts.
"We're looking at seamlessly integrating that security so that irrespective of the channel, device, car, wearable that it has got the same strength of security,” he added.

Payment technology companies such as MasterCard, though, are expecting criminals to switch focus from cracking plastic cards to stealing from future payment devices such as phones.
"Like anything else, criminals will find some way to attack,” he said.

"As the risk increases, you will layer in certain technologies," he added, explaining that a biometric layer, for instance, could sit atop an EMV system.

MasterPass
Standard Bank last year partnered with MasterCard to unveil the technology payment company's MasterPass offering in South Africa.

MasterPass enables consumers to store all their MasterCard or other branded credit, debit or cheque card information, and shipping and billing address details in one place without needing to enter these details all the time when shopping online.

Standard Bank was the first local bank to offer a digital wallet powered by MasterPass via the Standard Bank MasterPass app for Apple, Android and BlackBerry.

Online merchants such as Takealot.com were also among the first in the country to accept MasterPass.
However, Gerber has illustrated to Fin24 how MasterPass could also work with biometric data such as fingerprints and facial recognition.

Drones: China now securing the White House

015-02-03 17:15

Cape Town - When an unmanned Aircraft Vehicle (AUV/Drone) is able to land on the lawn of the most prominent building in the United States, it certainly does not bode well for amateur users.
This is what happened recently, raising more concerns about the use of drones and how the devices could be exploited by terrorists.

In response, the largest drone builder, a Shanghai based manufacturer DJI, has released a firmware update for the Phantom 2, Phantom 2 Vision, and Phantom 2 Vision+ which now ensures that drones automatically land when they come too close to US national key points in Washington DC, as well as certain airports and international borders.

South Africa’s draft legislation around UAV’s has just been closed for public comment at the end of December 2014, with a South African Civil Aviation Authority committee currently finalising the outcome.
Phindiwe Gwebu, spokesperson for the SACAA says draft legislation is currently being deliberated by the appointed committee and that as it stands the use of drones in SA public airspace is still illegal. Gwebu could not confirm the date of when the draft legislation would be finalised or if this latest development would affect its outcome, stating that anybody wanting to take the matter further could still contact the SACAA.

Eturbonews reports the No-Fly Zone update by manufacturer DJI is centered on the White House incident and extends for a 25-kilometer (15.5 mile) radius in all directions of the location.

The report states the new addition is part of DJI’s ongoing work with regulators to ensure safe flight, and is being included in a scheduled firmware update.

DJI said it will continue to update its no-fly-zone list to include sensitive institutions and national borders in compliance with local regulations.

America freezing

2015-02-03 17:25
Boston - Frigid temperatures descended on the northern tier of the US, as a biting chill followed a powerful snowstorm from the central Midwest into the Northeast, prompting warnings of "flash freezing" along the East Coast.

According to the National Weather Service, people from Montana to Maine are dealing with -18°C wind chill temperatures.

The arctic blast brought frigid wind chills to parts of Pennsylvania, New York and the northern New England region.

Earlier, the snowstorm, which dumped about half a metre of snow on Chicago and about a third of a metre on southeastern Wisconsin, deepened off the southern New England coast. It brought accumulations approaching 45cm in the Boston area and around a foot of slushy wintry mix to Hartford, Connecticut, Providence, Rhode Island, southern New Hampshire and Vermont - places still reeling from about a metere they got last week.

New York City's snow totals ranged from around 10cm in Central Park to 18cm in the Bronx.
As Boston recovers from its second major winter storm in a week, Mayor Martin J Walsh announced the victory parade for the Super Bowl champion New England Patriots football team would be postponed until Wednesday morning.

School was cancelled in Boston and some suburbs for Tuesday and Gov Charlie Baker ordered a delayed start for non-essential state agency workers to allow more time for clearing roads.

The storm was blamed for at least one death, a woman who was struck and killed by a snowplough in suburban Boston.

Doctors in Ohio said Toledo Mayor D Michael Collins was heavily sedated and in critical condition on Monday, a day after he went into cardiac arrest and his vehicle crashed into a pole on his way home not long after a news conference.

The storm delayed two of America's biggest court cases - the murder trial of former New England Patriots star Aaron Hernandez and jury selection in the federal death penalty trial of Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.

Testimony was to resume Tuesday in the Hernandez trial. But federal court officials in Boston, who follow the city's school closure schedule, said the Tsarnaev proceedings would be delayed a second day.
AP

Cops arrested for robbery, kidnapping

2015-02-03 17:24
Johannesburg - Two police officers were arrested in Pongola, northern KwaZulu-Natal, for alleged business robbery and kidnapping, the MEC for transport, community safety and liaison said on Tuesday.

In a statement Willies Mchunu said he was concerned at the arrest of two police officers aged 35 and 44, allegedly for business robbery and kidnapping.

"It is, indeed, of grave concern if there are suggestions that police officers, the very people who are charged with maintaining law and order, are now involved in undermining the law," he said in a statement.

"We welcome the arrests of the two officers. We have said time and again that the majority of people who are serving in the police service are men and women of high integrity. Equally, we have accepted that there are those few within the force who are rotten apples."

It is alleged that two months back security guards were confronted by a group of men who forced them into a taxi and drove off with them.

They tied them up with cable ties and left them in a sugar-cane field before returning to the shop they were guarding, the department said.

It is alleged the men tried to break the safe in the shop but failed. They allegedly stole five radios and cigarettes before fleeing.

A case of business robbery was reported and opened at the Pongola Police Station, said the department.
On 14 December, two men aged 44 and 45 were arrested for the business robbery and kidnapping. They appeared in the Pongola Magistrate's Court on 15 December.

The case was postponed to 19 February.

The department said that warrants of arrest were then obtained when police discovered that two police officers were allegedly part of the group that robbed the store.
The officers are expected to appear in court again soon.
More arrests are expected.

Mchunu said the law should take its course without fear or favour.
"However, we wish to caution members of the public not to assume that all police officers are corrupt," he said.

"Our message is clear. Let us work with those police officers who are law-abiding and serving with integrity. Equally, let us expose and isolate those who are not trustworthy and corrupt."
SAPA

Penis acid attack: 'I wanted him to feel my pain'

2015-02-03 17:23
Hazyview - A 17-year-old Mpumalanga girl who poured acid on her boyfriend's genitals to punish him for distributing a pornographic video he made of her without her knowledge, has blamed anger for her actions.
"I never intended to kill his penis. I was just angry and all I wanted was to make him feel the pain I was feeling," she told a Sapa correspondent.

"I heard about the video from one of my classmates and I thought that they were joking, but then I saw the video myself and lost my mind."

The girl, whose name is known to a Sapa correspondent but cannot be published because she is a minor, attacked Humphrey Khoza, 25, with battery acid while he was drinking beer with friends at a tavern in Cork village, near Hazyview, on 17 January.

She said Khoza had tricked her because she was not aware he was not using a condom or that he was filming them.

"I had to do something to show him that I was angry and wanted to hurt him so that he can see that he messed with the wrong girl," she said.

‘I didn’t realise she was carrying acid’
She searched in her father's tools for a wheel spanner she could use to teach Khoza a lesson.
"While I was searching I came across an old acid bottle. I took it and went straight to his regular drinking place and when I got there I became angrier. I didn't hesitate to pour the acid on him," she said.

Khoza, who had no problem with his name being published, but asked not to be photographed, said he had been dating the girl since December.

"Everything happened in a blink of an eye because I saw her when she was coming with a bottle, but I didn't realise that she was carrying acid. She just angrily called me a dog," he said.

"She asked how in the world I could have done such an evil thing to her. It was only then that I realised that she was talking about the video that I took while we were having sex."

‘She didn’t know I was filming us’
In the video, Khoza is seen pushing the girl, in her school uniform, onto a bed. He added that the sex was consensual.

"We agreed to have sex, but she was not aware that I was filming the sex using my laptop computer.
"I did not intend to show anyone the video and I still don't know how it got onto social media," he said.
The remorseful Khoza added that although his penis would never work again due to the damage caused by the acid, he was lucky to be alive.

He said he was advised to press charges against the girl, but does not see the point.
"Even if I press charges it is useless because it won't bring back my manhood. Her being in jail will just ruin her future because she is still young and I do not have the energy to attend courts," said Khoza.
He now has to urinate through a tube and has to undergo surgery.

The girl said she was also considering pressing charges relating to his creation of pornography.
According to the Film and Publications Act, child pornography is defined as "any image or any description of a person, real or simulated, who is, or who is depicted or described as being, under the age of 18 years, engaged in sexual conduct".

When asked for comment Calcutta police said they would open a case if either of the two came forward.
SAPA