MALAYSIAN AIRCRAFT CRASHES..............It may have been shot down says Ukraine's Interior minister

A Malaysian airliner with 295 people on board has crashed in Ukraine on a flight from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, amid allegations it was shot down. 

Flight MH17 (KLM4103) operated on a Boeing 777 departed Amsterdam at 12.15pm (Amsterdam local time) and was estimated to arrive at Kuala Lumpur International Airport at 6.10am (Malaysia local time) the next day..
A Ukrainian official said a passenger plane carrying 295 people was shot down Thursday as it flew over the country and plumes of black smoke rose up near a rebel-held village in eastern Ukraine.

Malaysia Airlines tweeted that it lost contact with one of its flights as it was traveling from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur over Ukrainian airspace.
Both the Ukrainian government and the pro-Russia separatists it is fighting in the region denied shooting down any plane. The fate of the 280 passengers and crew was not immediately known.
Anton Gerashenko, an adviser to Ukraine’s interior minister, said on his Facebook page the plane was flying at an altitude of 10,000 meters (33,000 feet). He said it was hit by a missile fired from a Buk launcher, which can fire missiles up to an altitude of 22,000 meters (72,000 feet).

The Donetsk region government said a plane crashed Thursday near a village called Grabovo, which it said is currently under the control of armed pro-Russian separatists. The region where the flight was lost has seen severe fighting between Ukrainian forces and pro-Russia separatist rebels in recent days.
The Malaysia Airlines plane is a Boeing 777-200ER, which was delivered to Malaysia Airlines on July 30, 1997, according to Flightglobal’s Ascend Online Fleets, which sells and tracks information about aircraft. It has more than 43,000 hours of flight time and 6,950 takeoffs and landings.
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said his country’s armed forces didn’t shoot at any airborne targets.
“We do not exclude that this plane was shot down, and we stress that the Armed Forces of Ukraine did not take action against any airborne targets,” he said. “We are sure that those who are guilty in this tragedy will be held responsible.”
Separatist leader Andrei Purgin told The Associated Press that he was certain that Ukrainian troops had shot the plane down but gave no explanation or proof for his statement.
Purgin said he did not know whether rebel forces owned Buk missile launchers, but said even if they did, there had no fighters capable of operating it.

A launcher similar to the Buk missile system was seen by Associated Press journalists earlier Thursday near the eastern Ukrainian town of Snizhne, which is held by the rebels.
Malaysia Airlines said on its Twitter feed that it “has lost contact of MH17 from Amsterdam. The last known position was over Ukrainian airspace.”
It was the second time that a Malaysia Airlines plane was lost in less than six months. Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 disappeared in March while en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. It has not been found, but the search has been concentrated in the Indian Ocean far west of Australia.
Malaysian Defense Minister Hishamuddin Hussein said on Twitter there’s no confirmation that Thursday’s plane was shot down. He said he has instructed the country’s military to check.
There have been disputes over planes being shot down earlier in the region.
On Wednesday evening, a Ukrainian fighter jet was shot down by an air-to-air missile from a Russian plane, Ukrainian authorities said Thursday, adding to what Kiev says is mounting evidence that Moscow is directly supporting the separatist insurgents. Security Council spokesman Andrei Lysenko said the pilot of the Sukhoi-25 jet hit by the air-to-air missile was forced to bail after his jet was shot down.
Pro-Russia rebels, meanwhile, claimed responsibility for strikes Wednesday on two Ukrainian Sukhoi-25 jets. The Ukrainian Defense Ministry said the second jet was hit by a portable surface-to-air missile, but added the pilot was unscathed and managed to land his plane safely
Moscow denies Western charges that is supporting the separatists or sowing unrest in its neighbor. The Russian Defense Ministry couldn’t be reached for comment Thursday about the Ukrainian jet being shot down.
Earlier this week, Ukraine said a military transport plane was shot down Monday by a missile fired from Russian territory.
If the Malaysia Airlines plane was shot down, it would be the fourth commercial airliner to face such a fate. The previous three were:
— April 20, 1978: Korean Airlines Flight 902, which diverted from its planned course on a flight from Paris to Seoul and strayed over the Soviet Union. After being fired upon by an interceptor aircraft, the crew made a forced landing at night on the surface of a frozen lake. Two of the 97 passengers were killed by the hostile fire.
— Sept. 1, 1983: Korean Air Lines Flight 007 shot down by at least one Soviet air-to-air missile after the 747 had strayed into Soviet airspace. All 240 passengers and 29 crew were killed.
— July 3, 1988: Iran Air Flight 655 Aircraft was shot down by a surface to air missile from the American naval vessel U.S.S. Vincennes. All 16 crew and 274 passengers were killed. -AP

 

NYANYA BOMBING: 

NIGERIA POLICE INTERPOL UNIT 

FINALLY ARRIVES HOME WITH OGWUCHE

Following the conclusion of tortuous legal and diplomatic processes between Nigeria and the Republic of Sudan, the co-mastermind of the ‪#‎Nyanya‬ Motor Park bombing in which scores of citizens died and hundreds wounded, Aminu Sadiq Ogwuche was Tuesday, 15th July, 2014 extradited to the country from Sudan where he had taken refuge. Aminu Ogwuche who was handed over to the Interpol Unit of the Nigeria Police Force by the Sudanese Authorities was flown into the country in a special flight from Khartoum which touched down at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport at 3.00pm today.
It would be recalled that the terror fugitive who had long since been arrested in Sudan following an international red notice issued for his arrest by the Nigeria National Bureau of Interpol had not been repatriated to the country before now due to some necessary processes involved in transferring suspects from one country to another.
Meanwhile, the Inspector-General of Police, IGP MD Abubakar, CFR, NPM, mni, psc while commending the personnel of the Nigeria Police Interpol Unit for a job well done, noted that the successful repatriation of the terror fugitive to Nigeria shows that the global coalition against terrorism championed by Nigeria is beginning to yield the desired result.

Former Governor of Lagos,Sir Michael Otedola Dies......................

Sir Michael Otedola is a Nigerian politician and the former Governor of Lagos State, Nigeria and he is also the father of Oil Magnate Femi Otedola.
Otedola was born on the 16 July 1926 into a Muslim family at Odoragunsin, Epe Local Government Area of Lagos State. After moving to Lagos to pursue his education he won a scholarship to study Journalism at the Regent Street Polytechnic in London where he graduated in 1958
He was Governor of lagos State between January 1992 – 18 November 1993 .His death is just barely 24hrs after the death of Justice Oputa (Charly Boy's father)

Just In.....PDP Former Governor Decamps to APC in Ekiti State

Information reaching us now is that the Former governor of Ekiti State unde the PDP Engr.Segun Oni while speaking with newsmen has just announced his descision to join the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state and he is been welcomed into the APC by the governor at his country home in Ifaki-Ekiti .

It is to be recalled that this is the second blow to the PDP in Ekiti state in just a week as the former deputy speaker in the state also joined the APC last week .Hon. Taiwo Olatunbosun was a well known confidant of the PDP candidate in the state before they fell apart when the former speaker described the former Governor Ayo Fayose of the PDP as a disaster in that needs to be prevented in the state if truly the state needs to move forward.
More Information coming as it happens.....................

WEEPING FIRST LADY..............................STAKEHOLDERS SHUN MEETING

“There is God o… There is God oo,” were the words that came out of the grief stricken mouth of the first lady repeatedly said as she wept uncontrollably.

The principal of the affected school also came alone to Abuja unaccompanied by any teacher or parent. Also, no student who escaped from the terrorists came for the meeting and the vigilante group, wife of the Chibok village head, the gate man of the school, chairman and secretary of the Parent Teachers Association and the school matron were also absent.
Agitated by this, the first lady broke down in tears at the meeting and wept publicly. She was devastated that the school had no stand-by power generator and no extra security was provided at the school.
 Also,the first lady became frustrated at the behavior of the First Lady of Borno for her deliberate action of absenteeism at the meeting after she gave dame Jonathan 100 percent assurance that she will be at the meeting. 

Towards the end of the meeting, it was gathered that Patience broke down in tears once again saying: “You want to kill my husband; you want to make me a widow before you go and rest. My God will never make me a widow.”

Watch the video below:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oMwIkuoAMj0
READ MORE:  http://news.naij.com/65732.html

READ MORE:  http://news.naij.com/65732.html

Barak Obama's Visit To Malaysia.................In Pictures,

United States President Barack Obama arrived in Malaysia as part of his four-nation tour of Asia. This is the first by a sitting US president in 48 years to visit the country since President Lyndon B. Johnson's trip back in 1966
Courtesy: NST

Airforce One landing at Sunang Airforce base in Malaysia,

Ebola Virus...........Educate yourself

History

Ebola virus (abbreviated EBOV) was first described in 1976. Today, the virus is the single member of the species Zaire ebolavirus, which is included into the genus Ebolavirus, family Filoviridae, order Mononegavirales. The name Ebola virus is derived from the Ebola River (a river that was at first thought to be in close proximity to the area in Democratic Republic of Congo, previously called Zaire, where the first recorded Ebola virus disease outbreak occurred) and the taxonomic suffix virus.
According to the rules for taxon naming established by the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV), the name Ebola virus is always to be capitalized, but is never italicized, and may be abbreviated (with EBOV being the official abbreviation).

Transmission
Ebola is introduced into the human population through close contact with the blood, secretions, organs or other bodily fluids of infected animals. In Africa, infection has been documented through the handling of infected chimpanzees, gorillas, fruit bats, monkeys, forest antelope and porcupines found ill or dead or in the rainforest.
 
Ebola then spreads in the community through human-to-human transmission, with infection resulting from direct contact (through broken skin or mucous membranes) with the blood, secretions, organs or other bodily fluids of infected people, and indirect contact with environments contaminated with such fluids. Burial ceremonies in which mourners have direct contact with the body of the deceased person can also play a role in the transmission of Ebola. Men who have recovered from the disease can still transmit the virus through their semen for up to 7 weeks after recovery from illness.
Health-care workers have frequently been infected while treating patients with suspected or confirmed EVD. This has occurred through close contact with patients when infection control precautions are not strictly practiced.
Among workers in contact with monkeys or pigs infected with Reston ebolavirus, several infections have been documented in people who were clinically asymptomatic. Thus, RESTV appears less capable of causing disease in humans than other Ebola species. 

Signs and symptoms 

EVD is a severe acute viral illness often characterized by the sudden onset of fever, intense weakness, muscle pain, headache and sore throat. This is followed by vomiting, diarrhoea, rash, impaired kidney and liver function, and in some cases, both internal and external bleeding. Laboratory findings include low white blood cell and platelet counts and elevated liver enzymes.

People are infectious as long as their blood and secretions contain the virus. Ebola virus was isolated from semen 61 days after onset of illness in a man who was infected in a laboratory.
The incubation period, that is, the time interval from infection with the virus to onset of symptoms, is 2 to 21 days.

Vaccine and treatment

No licensed vaccine for EVD is available. Several vaccines are being tested, but none are available for clinical use.
Severely ill patients require intensive supportive care. Patients are frequently dehydrated and require oral rehydration with solutions containing electrolytes or intravenous fluids.
No specific treatment is available. New drug therapies are being evaluated.

Natural host of Ebola virus

In Africa, fruit bats, particularly species of the genera Hypsignathus monstrosus, Epomops franqueti and Myonycteris torquata, are considered possible natural hosts for Ebola virus. As a result, the geographic distribution of Ebolaviruses may overlap with the range of the fruit bats.

Ebola virus in animals

Although non-human primates have been a source of infection for humans, they are not thought to be the reservoir but rather an accidental host like human beings. Since 1994, Ebola outbreaks from the EBOV and TAFV species have been observed in chimpanzees and gorillas.
RESTV has caused severe EVD outbreaks in macaque monkeys (Macaca fascicularis) farmed in Philippines and detected in monkeys imported into the USA in 1989, 1990 and 1996, and in monkeys imported to Italy from Philippines in 1992.
Since 2008, RESTV viruses have been detected during several outbreaks of a deadly disease in pigs in People’s Republic of China and Philippines. Asymptomatic infection in pigs has been reported and experimental inoculations have shown that RESTV cannot cause disease in pigs.

Prevention and control

Controlling Reston ebolavirus in domestic animals

No animal vaccine against RESTV is available. Routine cleaning and disinfection of pig or monkey farms (with sodium hypochlorite or other detergents) should be effective in inactivating the virus.
If an outbreak is suspected, the premises should be quarantined immediately. Culling of infected animals, with close supervision of burial or incineration of carcasses, may be necessary to reduce the risk of animal-to-human transmission. Restricting or banning the movement of animals from infected farms to other areas can reduce the spread of the disease.
As RESTV outbreaks in pigs and monkeys have preceded human infections, the establishment of an active animal health surveillance system to detect new cases is essential in providing early warning for veterinary and human public health authorities.

Reducing the risk of Ebola infection in people

In the absence of effective treatment and a human vaccine, raising awareness of the risk factors for Ebola infection and the protective measures individuals can take is the only way to reduce human infection and death.
In Africa, during EVD outbreaks, educational public health messages for risk reduction should focus on several factors:

• Reducing the risk of wildlife-to-human transmission from contact with infected fruit bats or monkeys/apes and the consumption of their raw meat. Animals should be handled with gloves and other appropriate protective clothing. Animal products (blood and meat) should be thoroughly cooked before consumption.
• Reducing the risk of human-to-human transmission in the community arising from direct or close contact with infected patients, particularly with their bodily fluids. Close physical contact with Ebola patients should be avoided. Gloves and appropriate personal protective equipment should be worn when taking care of ill patients at home. Regular hand washing is required after visiting patients in hospital, as well as after taking care of patients at home.
• Communities affected by Ebola should inform the population about the nature of the disease and about outbreak containment measures, including burial of the dead. People who have died from Ebola should be promptly and safely buried.

Pig farms in Africa can play a role in the amplification of infection because of the presence of fruit bats on these farms. Appropriate biosecurity measures should be in place to limit transmission. For RESTV, educational public health messages should focus on reducing the risk of pig-to-human transmission as a result of unsafe animal husbandry and slaughtering practices, and unsafe consumption of fresh blood, raw milk or animal tissue. Gloves and other appropriate protective clothing should be worn when handling sick animals or their tissues and when slaughtering animals. In regions where RESTV has been reported in pigs, all animal products (blood, meat and milk) should be thoroughly cooked before eating.

Controlling infection in health-care settings

Human-to-human transmission of the Ebola virus is primarily associated with direct or indirect contact with blood and body fluids. Transmission to health-care workers has been reported when appropriate infection control measures have not been observed.
It is not always possible to identify patients with EBV early because initial symptoms may be non-specific. For this reason, it is important that health-care workers apply standard precautions consistently with all patients – regardless of their diagnosis – in all work practices at all times. These include basic hand hygiene, respiratory hygiene, the use of personal protective equipment (according to the risk of splashes or other contact with infected materials), safe injection practices and safe burial practices.
Health-care workers caring for patients with suspected or confirmed Ebola virus should apply, in addition to standard precautions, other infection control measures to avoid any exposure to the patient’s blood and body fluids and direct unprotected contact with the possibly contaminated environment. When in close contact (within 1 metre) of patients with EBV, health-care workers should wear face protection (a face shield or a medical mask and goggles), a clean, non-sterile long-sleeved gown, and gloves (sterile gloves for some procedures).
Laboratory workers are also at risk. Samples taken from suspected human and animal Ebola cases for diagnosis should be handled by trained staff and processed in suitably equipped laboratories.


Courtesy World Health Organisation (WHO)