A man jumped the White House fence on Wednesday evening and was attacked by Secret Service dogs before being arrested, a Secret Service spokesman said.
“Dogs got him,” spokesman Edwin Donovan said, referring to the intruder. He identified the intruder as Dominic Adesanya, 23, of Bel Air, Maryland, and said he was unarmed at the time of his arrest, reported the Associated Press (AP).
Video showed Secret Service agents surrounding the man on the north lawn of the White House, which was put on lockdown for about 90 minutes. The man punched one of the dogs that attacked him, as seen in the video.
Two Secret Service dogs “were taken to a veterinarian for injuries sustained during the incident,” Donovan said.
The incident came roughly a month after an intruder armed with a knife scaled the White House fence and made it inside the executive mansion, raising questions about security levels at the heavily guarded complex and spurring the resignation of then Secret Service Director, Julia Pierson.
The man climbed the fence around 7:15 p.m. (2315 GMT) and was apprehended shortly thereafter. The lockdown was lifted shortly before 9 p.m.
“The individual was immediately taken into custody on the north lawn of the White House by Secret Service Uniformed Division K-9 teams and Uniformed Division Officers,” Donovan said. K-9 refers to the team using specially trained dogs.
The man was then transported to a hospital for evaluation, the spokesman said.
The latest White House security breach happened the same day a gunman attacked Canada’s parliament in Ottawa.
This Day
Friday, October 24, 2014
Thursday, October 23, 2014
Boko Haram kidnap more women after Nigerian government announce ceasefire
Dozens of women and girls from two villages in Nigeria's north-eastern Adamawa state have been abducted by suspected militants, residents say.
The abductions have not been confirmed by the authorities, but residents say they took place a day after the military announced it had agreed a ceasefire with the Boko Haram group.
The government hopes the Islamist group will free more than 200 girls seized in April as part of negotiations.
Boko Haram has not confirmed the truce.
Following Friday's ceasefire announcement, the government said further talks with Boko Haram were due to be held this week in neighbouring Chad.
In a separate incident, at least five people were killed in a bomb blast at a bus station in a town in the northern state of Bauchi.
Nobody has claimed responsibility for the attack.
Hostage swaps
News of the new abductions came as MPs approved a $1bn (£623m) loan - requested by the president in July - to upgrade military equipment and train more units fighting the north-eastern insurgency.
Security already costs the country close to $6bn, roughly a quarter of the federal budget.
The abduction of the schoolgirls from their boarding school in Borno state sparked a global campaign to pressure the government to secure their release.
Borno is the group's stronghold. It has been under a state of emergency, along with neighbouring Adamawa and Yobe states, for more than a year.
The villages that were attacked on Saturday - Waga Mangoro and Garta - are close to Madagali and Michika towns, which have been under the control of the Islamist militant group for several weeks.
According to people in the area, a large group of insurgents attacked the villages, rounding up women and young girls.
Communication with the affected area is difficult, which is why it takes time for news of attacks to filter out.
Other raids by suspected Boko Haram fighters were reported by residents in Adamawa and Borno over the weekend.
Since the state of emergency was declared in May 2013, Boko Haram has taken many women and children hostage and has agreed to some prisoner swaps.
The name Boko Haram translates as "Western education is forbidden", and the militants have carried out raids on schools and colleges, seeing them as a symbol of Western culture.
BBC
Related story: Nigerian military and Boko Haram agree to ceasefire and release of kidnapped schoolgirls
The abductions have not been confirmed by the authorities, but residents say they took place a day after the military announced it had agreed a ceasefire with the Boko Haram group.
The government hopes the Islamist group will free more than 200 girls seized in April as part of negotiations.
Boko Haram has not confirmed the truce.
Following Friday's ceasefire announcement, the government said further talks with Boko Haram were due to be held this week in neighbouring Chad.
In a separate incident, at least five people were killed in a bomb blast at a bus station in a town in the northern state of Bauchi.
Nobody has claimed responsibility for the attack.
Hostage swaps
News of the new abductions came as MPs approved a $1bn (£623m) loan - requested by the president in July - to upgrade military equipment and train more units fighting the north-eastern insurgency.
Security already costs the country close to $6bn, roughly a quarter of the federal budget.
The abduction of the schoolgirls from their boarding school in Borno state sparked a global campaign to pressure the government to secure their release.
Borno is the group's stronghold. It has been under a state of emergency, along with neighbouring Adamawa and Yobe states, for more than a year.
The villages that were attacked on Saturday - Waga Mangoro and Garta - are close to Madagali and Michika towns, which have been under the control of the Islamist militant group for several weeks.
According to people in the area, a large group of insurgents attacked the villages, rounding up women and young girls.
Communication with the affected area is difficult, which is why it takes time for news of attacks to filter out.
Other raids by suspected Boko Haram fighters were reported by residents in Adamawa and Borno over the weekend.
Since the state of emergency was declared in May 2013, Boko Haram has taken many women and children hostage and has agreed to some prisoner swaps.
The name Boko Haram translates as "Western education is forbidden", and the militants have carried out raids on schools and colleges, seeing them as a symbol of Western culture.
BBC
Related story: Nigerian military and Boko Haram agree to ceasefire and release of kidnapped schoolgirls
Wednesday, October 22, 2014
Social media technology helped contain ebola in Nigeria
According to the minister, the Android-based mobile app reduced reporting times of infections by 75 percent, adding that test results were scanned to tablets and uploaded to emergency databases and field teams got text message alerts on their phones informing them of the results.
Johnson said the combination of the internet and mobile cellular phones has opened up tremendous opportunities for countries like Nigeria.
“The steep increase in mobile use is driven by a number of factors, particularly, the additional ways in which mobile phones are being used in Nigeria. Beyond conducting voice conversations, mobile phones are often the preferred channel for receiving data and for conducting transactions in Nigeria – making phones an indispensable tool used as-cameras, wallets, shops, music players, movie screens, and information or service centres of Nigerians,” Johnson said.
“Nigeria’s policy focus is in step with the reality of the mobile internet revolution spreading across the globe- thus, the Ministry of Communication Technology is looking to create a viable environment for the proliferation of lower priced devices, increased investment in network infrastructure, and increased availability of spectrum for mobile broadband, in the knowledge that these will further drive growth in the nation’s ICT sector.”
Human IPO
Related stories: Nigeria officially declared Ebola free
Nigeria dropped from Ebola screening list in U.S. and Canada
Johnson said the combination of the internet and mobile cellular phones has opened up tremendous opportunities for countries like Nigeria.
“The steep increase in mobile use is driven by a number of factors, particularly, the additional ways in which mobile phones are being used in Nigeria. Beyond conducting voice conversations, mobile phones are often the preferred channel for receiving data and for conducting transactions in Nigeria – making phones an indispensable tool used as-cameras, wallets, shops, music players, movie screens, and information or service centres of Nigerians,” Johnson said.
“Nigeria’s policy focus is in step with the reality of the mobile internet revolution spreading across the globe- thus, the Ministry of Communication Technology is looking to create a viable environment for the proliferation of lower priced devices, increased investment in network infrastructure, and increased availability of spectrum for mobile broadband, in the knowledge that these will further drive growth in the nation’s ICT sector.”
Human IPO
Related stories: Nigeria officially declared Ebola free
Nigeria dropped from Ebola screening list in U.S. and Canada
Monday, October 20, 2014
Nigeria officially declared Ebola free
Nigeria is expected to be declared officially free of Ebola on Monday, after six weeks with no new cases.
Africa's most populous country won praise for its swift response after an infected Liberian diplomat brought the disease there in July.
The World Health Organization (WHO) officially declared Senegal Ebola-free on Friday.
The current outbreak has killed more than 4,500 people in West Africa, most in Liberia, Guinea, and Sierra Leone
An estimated 70% of those infected have died in those countries.
Meanwhile, European Union foreign ministers are meeting in Luxembourg to discuss how to strengthen their response to the threat posed by Ebola.
European countries have committed more than 500m euros (£400m; $600m) but the UK is pressing to double that amount.
The money is being sought to help reinforce over-stretched healthcare systems in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea and to mitigate the damage Ebola is doing to their economies.
Earlier, the Spanish government said a nurse who became the first person to contract Ebola outside West Africa had tested negative for the virus.
The result suggests Teresa Romero, 44, is no longer infected although a second test is required before she can be declared free of Ebola.
Ms Romero contracted the virus when treating two infected patients in a Madrid hospital.
In another development, US health officials said most of the people quarantined after coming into contact with Ebola victim Thomas Eric Duncan had been given the all-clear. The 21-day monitoring period applied to about 50 people.
Two nurses at the Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas became infected with Ebola after treating Mr Duncan, who was from Liberia. He died on 8 October.
Nigeria praised
The WHO can declare an Ebola outbreak over if two incubation periods of 21 days pass with no new cases. The last reported case in Nigeria was discovered on 5 September, and the country is now on the verge of a clean bill of health.
The BBC's Will Ross in Lagos says that although the nation is heaving a collective sigh of relief, experts warn that Ebola will probably return to Nigeria.
The outbreak there began when Patrick Sawyer, an American-Liberian citizen, was diagnosed with the illness in July.
Nigeria declared a national public health emergency and Sawyer later died of the disease, followed by seven Nigerians.
These included Dr Ameyo Stella Adadevoh, who diagnosed Sawyer and is credited with helping to contain the outbreak at its source.
John Vertefeuille, from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), said that Nigeria had taken the right steps to contain the outbreak.
"Nigeria acted quickly and early and on a large scale" he told AFP news agency. "They acted aggressively, especially in terms of contact-tracing", he added.
BBC
Africa's most populous country won praise for its swift response after an infected Liberian diplomat brought the disease there in July.
The World Health Organization (WHO) officially declared Senegal Ebola-free on Friday.
The current outbreak has killed more than 4,500 people in West Africa, most in Liberia, Guinea, and Sierra Leone
An estimated 70% of those infected have died in those countries.
Meanwhile, European Union foreign ministers are meeting in Luxembourg to discuss how to strengthen their response to the threat posed by Ebola.
European countries have committed more than 500m euros (£400m; $600m) but the UK is pressing to double that amount.
The money is being sought to help reinforce over-stretched healthcare systems in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea and to mitigate the damage Ebola is doing to their economies.
Earlier, the Spanish government said a nurse who became the first person to contract Ebola outside West Africa had tested negative for the virus.
The result suggests Teresa Romero, 44, is no longer infected although a second test is required before she can be declared free of Ebola.
Ms Romero contracted the virus when treating two infected patients in a Madrid hospital.
In another development, US health officials said most of the people quarantined after coming into contact with Ebola victim Thomas Eric Duncan had been given the all-clear. The 21-day monitoring period applied to about 50 people.
Two nurses at the Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas became infected with Ebola after treating Mr Duncan, who was from Liberia. He died on 8 October.
Nigeria praised
The WHO can declare an Ebola outbreak over if two incubation periods of 21 days pass with no new cases. The last reported case in Nigeria was discovered on 5 September, and the country is now on the verge of a clean bill of health.
The BBC's Will Ross in Lagos says that although the nation is heaving a collective sigh of relief, experts warn that Ebola will probably return to Nigeria.
The outbreak there began when Patrick Sawyer, an American-Liberian citizen, was diagnosed with the illness in July.
Nigeria declared a national public health emergency and Sawyer later died of the disease, followed by seven Nigerians.
These included Dr Ameyo Stella Adadevoh, who diagnosed Sawyer and is credited with helping to contain the outbreak at its source.
John Vertefeuille, from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), said that Nigeria had taken the right steps to contain the outbreak.
"Nigeria acted quickly and early and on a large scale" he told AFP news agency. "They acted aggressively, especially in terms of contact-tracing", he added.
BBC
Friday, October 17, 2014
Nigerian military and Boko Haram agree to ceasefire and release of kidnapped schoolgirls
Nigeria's military says it has agreed a ceasefire with Islamist militants Boko Haram - and that the schoolgirls the group has abducted will be released.
Nigeria's chief of defence staff, Alex Badeh, announced the truce. Boko Haram has not made a public statement.
The group has been fighting an insurgency since 2009, with some 2,000 civilians reportedly killed this year.
Boko Haram sparked global outrage six months ago by abducting more than 200 schoolgirls.
The girls were seized in the north-eastern town of Chibok in Borno state, and their continued captivity has led to criticism of the Nigerian government's efforts to secure their release.
Members of the Bring Back Our Girls campaign said in a tweet on Friday: "We are monitoring the news with huge expectations." 'Cautiously optimistic'
Air Chief Marshal Badeh revealed the truce at the close of a three-day security meeting between Nigeria and Cameroon. He said Nigerian soldiers would comply with the agreement.
Nigerian presidential aide Hassan Tukur told BBC Focus on Africa that the agreement was sealed after a month of negotiations, mediated by Chad.
As part of the talks, a government delegation twice met representatives of the Islamist group.
Mr Tukur said Boko Haram had announced a unilateral ceasefire on Thursday and the government had responded.
"They've assured us they have the girls and they will release them," he said.
"I am cautiously optimistic."
He said arrangements for their release would be finalised at another meeting next week in Chad's capital, Ndjamena.
The negotiations are said to have the blessing of Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau, reports the BBC's Chris Ewokor in Abuja.
Speaking to the BBC, Nigerian government spokesman Mike Omeri said Boko Haram would not be given territory under the ceasefire agreement - and that the government would not reveal what concessions it would make.
"We are inching closer to release of all groups in captivity, including the Chibok girls," he said.
BBC
Related story: Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau apparently alive - releases new video
Nigeria's chief of defence staff, Alex Badeh, announced the truce. Boko Haram has not made a public statement.
The group has been fighting an insurgency since 2009, with some 2,000 civilians reportedly killed this year.
Boko Haram sparked global outrage six months ago by abducting more than 200 schoolgirls.
The girls were seized in the north-eastern town of Chibok in Borno state, and their continued captivity has led to criticism of the Nigerian government's efforts to secure their release.
Members of the Bring Back Our Girls campaign said in a tweet on Friday: "We are monitoring the news with huge expectations." 'Cautiously optimistic'
Air Chief Marshal Badeh revealed the truce at the close of a three-day security meeting between Nigeria and Cameroon. He said Nigerian soldiers would comply with the agreement.
Nigerian presidential aide Hassan Tukur told BBC Focus on Africa that the agreement was sealed after a month of negotiations, mediated by Chad.
As part of the talks, a government delegation twice met representatives of the Islamist group.
Mr Tukur said Boko Haram had announced a unilateral ceasefire on Thursday and the government had responded.
"They've assured us they have the girls and they will release them," he said.
"I am cautiously optimistic."
He said arrangements for their release would be finalised at another meeting next week in Chad's capital, Ndjamena.
The negotiations are said to have the blessing of Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau, reports the BBC's Chris Ewokor in Abuja.
Speaking to the BBC, Nigerian government spokesman Mike Omeri said Boko Haram would not be given territory under the ceasefire agreement - and that the government would not reveal what concessions it would make.
"We are inching closer to release of all groups in captivity, including the Chibok girls," he said.
BBC
Related story: Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau apparently alive - releases new video
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