‘Freed’ Gaddafi’s son still wanted by Libya court – prosecutor

Libyan authorities said on Monday that Moammar Gaddafi’s son Seif al-Islam, reportedly set free by a militia at the weekend, was still wanted by a Tripoli court for a 2015 conviction.

Seif al-Islam, the second son and heir apparent of the late deposed Libyan dictator, was said to have been released on Friday by a militia group that controls the town of Zintan in western Libya.

The group, which had held Seif al-Islam for more than five years, said he had been set free under an amnesty law promulgated by the parliament based in the country’s east during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

But the prosecutor general’s office in Tripoli, where a rival UN-backed administration is based, said the amnesty could not apply to Seif al-Islam because of the severity of his crimes.

“Having been sentenced in absentia on July 28, 2015… (Seif al-Islam) is required to appear before the court,” Tripoli prosecutor general Ibrahim Massud Ali said in a statement.

There was no independent confirmation of Seif al-Islam’s release, which could spark further instability in a country already wracked by divisions and violence.

Mattia Toaldo, senior policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations, cast doubt over his reported “liberation”.

“This is the fourth time in a little bit more than a year that the news of Seif’s liberation has spread,” Toaldo told AFP.

“There is still no visual evidence of his liberation and even the term ‘liberation’ must be used carefully as he was already free to move within the city of Zintan,” he added.

‘Active return to politics’

Seif al-Islam’s whereabouts remain a mystery and even his lawyer, Karim Khan, has declined to confirm or deny the militia had let him go.

In any case, said Toaldo, if the “liberation” of Gaddafi’s heir apparent is confirmed it “would mark his active return to politics”.

According to Toaldo, people close to Seif al-Islam had set up offices in several foreign capitals.

But he said Gaddafi’s son “would be more easily protected either in the south or in cities like Bani Walid where both tribal and political allegiances are more closely aligned with him”.

“His first goal (if he was indeed freed) could be to rally all the regime loyalists and tribal forces around him,” he said.

Seif al-Islam had been held in Zintan since being detained in November 2011, just days after his father was killed in a NATO-backed uprising against his decades-long rule.

The Zintan militia, which opposes Libya’s UN-backed Government of National Accord (GNA) based in the capital, had refused to hand him over to authorities despite several legal cases.

A court in Tripoli convicted Seif al-Islam in 2015 in connection with attempts to put down the revolt and sentenced him in absentia to death.

He is also wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague for alleged crimes against humanity.

His reported release came with the North African country still rocked by infighting, with authorities in the east, reportedly allied with the forces of military strongman Khalifa Haftar, refusing to recognise the GNA.

The prosecution statement did not confirm he had been set free and gave no indication of his potential whereabouts, and the GNA has not commented on his reported release.

Human Rights Watch called on Libyan authorities to track him down.

“Libyan authorities, who remain obligated to surrender him to the court (ICC), should urgently confirm whether he was released and disclose his current whereabouts,” said Sarah Leah Whitson, HRW’s Middle East and North Africa director.

Police Inspector Arraigned For Drug Dealing

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) Monday arraigned an Inspector of Police, Bola Adigun, before a Federal High Court, Lagos, Southwest Nigeria Limited on charges bordering on conspiracy, drug dealings and wilful obstruction of security agents from carrying out their official duty.

The anti-narcotic agency in charge number: FHC/L/192c/17 alleged that the Police Inspector currently attached to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), and one Voke David, now at large, of Jakande Estate, Amuwo Odofin, Mile 2, Lagos, had on May 25, 2017, about 1a.m., along Badagry-Lagos Expressway, at Agemowo junction, conspired to transport 49 large bags containing compressed vegetable substance suspected to be Cannabis Sativa, popularly called Marijuana, weighing 2.338 kilograms, in a Volkswagen LT bus marked FKJ 937 XS.

The Police Inspector was also alleged to have unlawfully possessed the said banned weeds.

NDLEA alleged further that the accused, while armed with a Jericho Pistol numbered BDA 380425pm 56369, calibre 9.85 CAT 1661 loaded with 10 rounds of ammunition, wilfully obstructed the official of NDLEA from exercising the powers conferred on them by the NDLEA Act.

The offences alleged to have been committed by the Police Inspector are contrary to and punishable under sections 14(c), 19 and 49(B) of National Drug Law Enforcement Agency Act Cap N30, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.

The accused however, pleaded not guilty to all the three counts of the charge.

The presiding judge, Justice Cecilia Mojisola Olatoregun, admitted him to bail in the sum of N10 million with three sureties.

Justice Olatoregun also ordered that each of the sureties must be a landed property owner, with evidence of three years tax payment, and have their addresses and means of livelihood verified.

The judge ordered that the accused be remanded in prison’s custody pending the perfection of his bail conditions, while adjourning the matter till June 27, for commencement of trial.

5 Of The Easiest Ways To Work Off Your Beer Belly

In the real world, it's all too easy for those occasional pints and carbonaras to start adding up around your midriff, especially if your job has you sat down for prolonged periods of time.

But just because you can't be as active as you'd like to be, doesn't mean that you have to accept your fate as a long-term beer belly owner.
Here we break down the simple ways that you can tackle that gut, and trim up for shirtless season.

1 | Tweak Your Diet - Don't Starve Yourself

Of course you're going to have to reduce calories to see any difference in your weight, but it's important that you don't take it to the extreme.
When we stop eating, our bodies kick into survival mode, which means your metabolism slows down and your body will battle to keep hold of every last calorie and ounce of fat. Instead you want to be fueling yourself with decent, natural foods like whole grains, lean meat and green vegetables, so that your metabolism is constantly running and not searching desperately for that next calorie.

Secondly, we tend to gorge after a period of prolonged hunger, so the more you starve yourself, the more likely it is that you'll crumble and end up in a heap, covered in chocolate, crumbs and your own defeated tears.

2 | Keep Lifting Weights

If you're looking to eradicate that beer belly once and for all, it's vital that you don't neglect the weight rack for hours of torturous cardio (there will still be a bit of that, in case you were worried).

To burn fat you're going to need a quick and efficient metabolism; the easiest way of achieving this is to lift weights and put on muscle, as your body will need to burn more calories in order to keep those muscles fed.

Studies have also shown - like this one from Harvard - that your body's metabolism can be increased for up to 48 hours after a weight training  workout. 

3 | Swap Out The Beer

Beer is a delicious and important social convention for pretty much every British man, but there is a price to pay for that wonderful blend of hops, water, malt and yeast and that is the soft and flabby consequence of the beer belly.

An average pint of beer contains about 180 calories, whereas a vodka and soda contains around 64 calories, which, as frustrating as it may be, is an undeniable difference. You can still enjoy an ale or three here and there, but if you really want to ditch that belly you're going to need to find a new signature drink.
Just don't have it with a straw, please.

4 | Have A Cheat Meal Once A Week

This might go against all logic surrounding losing fat around your belly, but falling off the wagon can actually be a good thing for your weight loss progress.

The theory behind the 'cheat meal' is that by occasionally increasing your calorific intake for a day or two per week, you're making sure that your body doesn't get used to a standard food routine, which can result in a metabolism plateau.

An added benefit of a cheat meal is that no sane man can swear off sugar, carbs and booze for eternity, so by allowing yourself a chance to indulge, you're taking away some of the mental strain that's required of a strict diet, thus making it less likely that you'll crumble and begin gorging.

5 | Learn The Power Of High Intensity

Another aspect of fitness that can take a while to grasp is that the amount of time spent exercising doesn't necessarily correlate with the best results.
This is where HIIT comes in, or high intensity interval training. A method that sees you work as hard as you can for short periods of time, resulting in better lung-capacity, endurance and an increased metabolism. There's a reason why sprinters are so fit and powerful, even though they typically run very short distances.

A good starting point is the 7 Minute workout - the longest seven minutes of your life - as well as the body-conquering burpee.

And while it might not be that glamorous, finding a flight of steep stairs and sprinting up them - using the walk down as rest - is one of the most effective fat-burning exercises going. -Esquire UK

Shehu Sani Tackles Obasanjo Over Failure To Honour MKO

The senator representing Kaduna-Central senatorial district, Shehu Sani, says the refusal of former President Olusegun Obasanjo to recognise and honour the acclaimed winner of the June 12, 1993 presidential election, the late MKO Abiola, is a reflection of Nigeria’s institutional failure.

Sani noted that when Nigeria finally attained democratic rule in 1999, none of those who suffered in the hands of the military while struggling to entrench democracy in the country got any political position.

He said it was, therefore, not surprising that the present crop of democrats in the country, who did not sacrifice anything for the nation’s democracy, were only interested in amassing wealth for themselves at the expense of the masses.

Sani delivered a keynote address on Monday at the 2017 National Breakfast Prayers and Tribute Session in honour of Abiola.

The event with the theme, “June 12 movement and the hope of equitable restructuring for Nigeria,” was also to commemorate the 24th anniversary of June 12, 1993 and it held at the late Abiola’s house in Ikeja, Lagos.

Sani argued that despite the Federal Government’s failure to honour the late Abiola, the June 12, 1993 presidential election that the late businessman won, but which the military junta of General Ibrahim Babangida annulled, laid the foundation for the current democratic rule in the country.

He said, “Without the struggle of June 12, there could not have been democracy in Nigeria today. The change and the experience in the 2015 election was part of the seed of June 12, it was the same forces that forced the military out power that rallied Nigerians to eject the PDP out of power.”

He said Obansanjo’s failure to honour the late Abiola reflected the effort of the political class to suppress the sacrifice of those who went to jail and those who paid the supreme price for the democracy that Nigeria has today.

Sani said, “It is not simply about Chief MKO Abiola not being recongnised by Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, it is about an institutional decision of the political class, who continues to suppress the role played by the free press bringing about democracy…17 years down democratic lane, hardly will you see any of those that were on the streets of Lagos protesting for democracy ever being recognised with even an award of OON, which is the lowest. As they share oil blocks to themselves, share positions to themselves, so they share national honour to themselves.”

Also speaking, a former Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Adeyemi Ikuforiji, said had the late Abiola been allowed to enjoy the mandate given to him by Nigerians, there might not have been the different sectional agitations in the country.

Ikuforiji said, “The man who paid the supreme sacrifice, he had nothing to do with poverty as of the time he put down his life for Nigeria; our then President-elect had made many Nigerians from all walks of life millionaires on his own. He had contributed to the growth of many communities across Nigeria and it had nothing to do with tribe or religion.

“Perhaps, if our President-elect had been given the opportunity to run his term of office, there would have been no Niger Delta militants; perhaps if MKO had been given the opportunity to run the mandate that was given to him by Nigerians, today, there wouldn’t have been any movement by Nnamdi Kanu; perhaps, if he had been given the opportunity to serve in the leadership role that Nigerians gave to him on June 12, 1993, today there wouldn’t have been any declaration from the Arewa youths asking the Igbo to vacate.”

Newcastle remaining quiet amid Chinese interest in buying club from Mike Ashley

Newcastle owner Mike Ashley could be ready to listen to genuine offers for the club amid interest from China.

Reports on Monday suggested there has been fresh interest in United, who won promotion back to the Premier League at the end of last season, from Asia.

The Magpies were not commenting on the matter, but there was no outright dismissal from sources on Tyneside either, which there has been in the past.

It is not the first time a potential buyer has expressed an interest in the club, bought by Ashley for £134.4million in April 2007.
However, no acceptable offer has ever been received and the Sports Direct tycoon has remained at the helm, much to the annoyance of his most vociferous critics.

While he has not actively been looking for a buyer in recent years, he has always been open to an offer he could not refuse.

Having regained top-flight for the second time in Ashley's tenure, Newcastle represents an attractive proposition once again, although it remains to be seen whether or not anyone puts the required cash on the table, and if he is indeed prepared to do business.

The sportswear magnate has already promised manager Rafael Benitez "every last penny that the club generates" from promotion, player sales and other income in the wake of promotion, and the Spaniard and chief executive Lee Charnley are currently working on his summer transfer wish-list.

Arsenal told Alexandre Lacazette will cost them £60m

Arsenal have been quoted a fee of €55 million (£48.7 million) plus €12 million (£10.6 million) in add-ons to sign Alexandre Lacazette this summer.

Fresh talks have already taken place between Arsenal and Lacazette’s current club, Lyon, over the future of the 26-year-old striker who is poised to start for France in Tuesday night’s friendly against England in Paris . The forward is, therefore, emerging as a firm target for Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger, who tried to sign him last year.

Against England Lacazette will play alongside Kylian Mbappé, who has also been the subject of interest from Arsenal. The Premier League club have already indicated to Monaco that they are prepared to pay €100 million (£88.5 million) for the 18-year-old, which has been rejected.

However, Arsenal have not yet given up hope of signing Mbappé despite strong opposition from other clubs led by Real Madrid who have offered even more – €120 million (£106.2 million) – although the deal is structured differently from Arsenal’s with less cash up front. Wenger, who held talks with Mbappé’s family last year, has also tried to convince the player that he will have more first-team chances at Arsenal.

Even so, Monaco expect to keep Mbappé for at least one more season – if they can get him to agree a new contract – and will resist all offers for another player Arsenal are interested in, midfielder Thomas Lemar, because they will not let both him and Tiemoué Bakayoko go in the same summer. 

They are close to agreeing a deal to sell Bakayoko to Chelsea although there remains a discrepancy over the fee structure. Nevertheless Bakayoko will leave for a minimum of £40 million.

Lyon have accepted that it may be the summer for Lacazette, who has spent his whole career with them so far, finally to leave the club. A deal was in place for the striker to join Atlético Madrid but that collapsed when their Fifa transfer ban was upheld by the Court of Arbitration in Sport. Lacazette was keen on the move and is understood to be devastated that it fell through.

There is some caution from those close to Lacazette about Arsenal’s interest given they held talks last year and were unable to agree a deal despite initial suggestions that they would meet Lyon’s asking price. Wenger met Lacazette’s representatives in Lyon, after France’s Euro 2016 last-16 fixture against the Republic of Ireland, and two bids were made although they fell short of what president Jean-Michel Aulas was asking for. 

West Ham United also failed in a series of offers last summer before Arsenal made their approach, with Lacazette eventually making it clear he did not want to join them. 

The player turned down a more lucrative contract from Lyon last year, where he is the highest-paid player, to ensure he was available to leave at a more reasonable price now. Lyon regard the figures quoted to Arsenal as a starting point.

Meanwhile, Arsenal’s Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain has admitted that he has suffered a “stop-start” career for England in the week that marked him being selected for his country at Euro 2012.

“My England career, honestly, I feel like it is has been in two halves,” the Arsenal midfielder said. “I’m starting the second part of it. Everything came quite quick, and I got a lot of caps quite quickly, then was injured and had a spell out, missed the Euros. 

"In this squad, a lot of new boys have come in so it feels like a new squad. Strange, but a new challenge and quite a refreshing one to be a part of. A bit stop-start, my career, but at this moment I have a lot of faith in this new team and the manager and what we’re trying to build here.” - The Telegraph

Qatar 'extremely comfortable' despite sanctions, markets stabilise

Qatar's financial markets stabilised on Monday after a week of losses as the government showed it could keep the economy running in the face of sanctions by its neighbours.

The finance minister of the world's richest country per capita played down the economic toll of the confrontation, and said the government was "extremely comfortable" with its financial position, with the resources to endure the pressure.
Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt cut diplomatic and transport ties with Qatar a week ago, accusing it of fomenting regional unrest, supporting terrorism and getting too close to Iran, all of which Doha denies.

The biggest diplomatic rift in years among the rich states of the Gulf has disrupted Qatar's imports of food and other materials and caused some foreign banks to scale back business.
On Monday, it was becoming clear that Qatar could keep the economic damage from becoming critical. Some of its food factories were working extra shifts to process imports from nations outside the Gulf, such as Brazil. Shipping lines have re-routed container traffic via Oman instead of the UAE.

Such measures may involve delays and raise costs for Qatar; on Monday Fitch put Qatar's AA credit rating on Rating Watch Negative, saying a sustained crisis could hurt its credit outlook. But they are unlikely to prevent the economy from functioning in any fundamental way, economists say.

The diplomatic confrontation has become a major test for the United States, which is closely allied to the countries on both sides. Qatar hosts the Middle East headquarters for U.S. air forces; Bahrain hosts the main base for the U.S. Navy.

As the world's leading exporter of liquefied natural gas, Qatar's wealth has allowed it to crown its small Gulf peninsula with skyscrapers. It has also given the government the means to take an outsized role in regional affairs, sponsoring factions in revolts and civil wars and brokering peace deals across the Middle East. Several neighbours have been furious for years.

"STARVE THE BEAST"

In Washington, U.S. President Donald Trump, who has strongly backed the countries imposing sanctions on Qatar despite a more neutral stance taken by the State Department and Pentagon, said the measures were helping to stop terrorism funding.

"One of the big things that we did and you are seeing it now is Qatar and all of the things that are actually going on in a very positive fashion. We are stopping the funding of terrorism," he said during a photo call with cabinet officials. "We are going to starve the beast.”

Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdulrahman al-Thani told a news conference in France that Qatar "still had no clue" why the nations cut ties. He denied that Qatar supported groups like the Muslim Brotherhood that its neighbours oppose, or had warm ties with their enemy Iran.

So far, the measures do not seem to have caused a serious shortages of supplies in shops. Some people have even joked about being "blockaded" inside the world's richest country: a Twitter page called "Doha under siege" pokes fun at the prospect of readying "escape yachts", stocking up on caviar and trading Rolex watches for espresso.

But an economic downturn could have more dire consequences for the vast majority of Qatar's 2.7 million residents, who are not citizens but foreign workers. Migrant labourers make up 90 percent of Qatar's population, mostly unskilled and dependent on construction projects such as building stadiums for the 2022 soccer World Cup.
In an interview with CNBC television -- one of the first public appearances by a Qatari economic policy maker since the crisis erupted -- Finance Minister Ali Sherif al-Emadi said the government was "extremely comfortable with our positions, our investments and liquidity in our systems".

The energy sector and economy are essentially operating as normal and no serious impact has been felt on supplies of food or other goods. Qatar can import goods from Turkey, the Far East or Europe and will respond to the crisis by diversifying its economy even more, he told CNBC.

"Our reserves and investment funds are more than 250 percent of gross domestic product, so I don't think there is any reason that people need to be concerned about what's happening or any speculation on the Qatari riyal."

 Jason Tuvey, a Middle East economist at London-based Capital Economics, said that as long as the other Gulf countries did not interfere with Qatar's gas exports, the tiny state should be able to carry on without a serious recession.

"It seems Qatar would be able to weather quite a prolonged period of sanctions," he said, adding that economic growth, fuelled by government spending and infrastructure projects, was "highly unlikely to grind to halt".

Qatar, like other Gulf states, has tried to diversify from oil and gas. The sanctions have hurt one of its highest-profile enterprises, fast-growing airline Qatar Airways, which says it has been cut it off from 18 of its destinations.

"It is actually a travesty of civilised behaviour to close airline offices. Airlines offices are not political arms," CEO Akbar Al Baker told CNN. "We were sealed as if it was a criminal organisation. We were not allowed to give refunds to our passengers."

He added that he was "extremely disappointed" in Trump. Washington "should be the leader trying to break this blockade and not sitting and watching what's going on and putting fuel on (the) fire."

UNDERPINNED BY WEALTH FUND

Qatar's riyal currency, pegged at 3.64 to the U.S. dollar, was under pressure last week as banks reacted nervously to the diplomatic rift. On Monday, the currency came off last week's lows in the spot (QAR=) and offshore forwards markets (QAR1Y=W).

Bankers said the central bank, which has $34.5 billion of net foreign reserves backed by an estimated hundreds of billions of dollars of assets in Doha's sovereign wealth fund, was supplying enough dollars to keep exchange rates under control.

The cost of insuring Qatar's sovereign debt against default (QAGV5YUSAC=MG) fell back for the first time in a week. Yields on Doha's international bonds (XS140578215=TE) dropped almost 10 basis points and the stock market (.QSI) stabilised after sliding 8.7 percent in the past week.

Tuvey said the main threat to the economy was that Qatari banks could find it much harder to obtain wholesale funding from other banks to sustain growth in their loan portfolios. However, if the situation becomes critical, the Qatari government can liquidate some of its overseas assets to fund its banks, as Saudi Arabia did last year when its banks faced a squeeze.

Qatar's sovereign wealth fund has major stakes in top Western companies such as Credit Suisse (CSGN.S). Asked by CNBC whether it might now sell some of those stakes to raise money, Emadi indicated this was not on the cards for now.

Qatar's normally bustling border with Saudi Arabia was deserted on Monday. Soldiers in an armoured pick-up truck looked out over barbed-wire at sprawling dustland separating Qatar from Saudi Arabia. Indian migrants who work at the border in green uniforms lay on inspection platforms sheltering from the sun.

Normally, thousands of passengers and hundreds of trucks from Saudi Arabia pass through the crossing each day, bringing fruit and vegetables, as well as construction materials. - Reuters