NETHERLANDS CLOSE PRISONS FOR LACK OF CRIMINALS

While prison populations grows in the United Kingdom, with overcrowded cells and repeat offenders, the opposite is
happening in the Netherlands.
The Dutch justice ministry has announced that the country is going to close at least 8 prisons due to a lack of
criminals.
According to the local media, the country has the capacity for 14,000 prisoners and there are only 12,000 detainees.
The decrease is expected to continue, the ministry said, also the natural redundancy and other measures should counter
any forced lay-offs.
A last year report on prison overcrowding said that surging populations undermined the rehabilitation of prisoners and
risked increasing reoffending in the future.
The Criminal Justice Alliance (CJA), which represents more than 60 organisations, called for the government to urgently
limit "the unnecessary use of prison, ensuring it is reserved for serious, persistent and violent offenders for whom no
alternative sanction is appropriate".
It came after Chief Inspector of Prisons Nick Hardwick said the rising pressure on prisons from budget cuts and
increasing numbers cannot go on indefinitely.

NO TALK OF IMPEACHING JONATHAN - KAWU

The House of Representatives have revealed that they have no plans to impeach President Goodluck Jonathan.
Deputy Minority Leader Sumaila Kawu warned those who might want to exploit the factionalisation of the PDP to foment
trouble in the House to stay away.
The All Progressives Congress (APC) chieftain from Kano said: "Impeachment of the President is not on our agenda as a
parliament and as such it is a figment of anybody's imagination to suggest anything like that.
"On our return from the annual recess, we shall continue with legislation that will put food on the table of Nigerians and
not waste our time on none-issues because the 7th House is a serious chamber that cannot be distracted.
"The earlier they realised that the House is unshakeable the better for them. They should rather gear their energy
towards solving the multifarious crisis bedevilled their party than trying to fight a lost battle.
"Nigerians are suffering and any responsible government should at this time gear all its energies towards putting smiles
on the faces of its citizens but not fighting its party members because of ambitions to perpetuate itself in power.
"House is a symbol of Nigeria because of its broader representation of each and every crannies of Nigeria and that is
why we are working together to salvage the country.
"It is obvious that some people are very jittery over the mass movement of PDP members to the New PDP and even
other political parties and in their desperate attempts to cause trouble and confusion they may want to capitalise on the
crisis to foment trouble in the House.
"If the executive or indeed the presidency is feeling guilty for failing to deliver on its mandates to Nigerians, they still
have time to do so by working harder and in accordance with constitutional provisions
Those spreading false are doing so for personal benefits and maximising their political gains with their masters."
"I wish to state here that the House of Representatives is one and indivisible body of 360 members who are committed
to the development, political stability and progress of Nigeria.
"We will never shy away from those things that will bring happiness to all Nigerians. We are however, using this
opportunity to call on those people who may want to use the crisis in the PDP to foment trouble in the House to stay
away from the House.We won't allow anybody to divide us, we cannot be divided."

FORGET 2015, BEG OBASANJO - FFK TELLS JONATHAN

A former Aviation Minister, Femi Fani-Kayode, has asked President Goodluck Jonathan to forgo his speculated 2015
presidential ambition without which the crisis in the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, would continue unabated.
Mr. Fani-Kayode, who stated this in a statement on Saturday, admonished Mr. Jonathan to listen to the
advice of his predecessor, former President Olusegun Obasanjo, and others and drop his ambition; insisting
that it was the only hope for the ruling party to hold on to power.
Efforts by Mr. Obasanjo, former military ruler, Ibrahim Babangida, and some PDP elders to resolve the crisis in the party
on Friday yielded no fruit. Describing Mr. Obasanjo as one of the greatest political strategists whom the president must
listen to, the former minister warned that failing to heed his (Obasanjo) advice not to re-contest could be tragic.
"The only hope left for the PDP is if President Goodluck Jonathan listens to President Olusegun Obasanjo and those
behind him and drops his 2015 ambition. Failing that the fight in the PDP will never end," he said.
"The truth is that Obasanjo is one of the greatest political strategists that Nigeria has ever known and he is an
extremely dangerous adversary. I know him well and his ways are deep. Ori Baba le gan ni. Go and find out what
happened to all those that betrayed him or tried to kill him.
Their end is never good." Mr. Fani-Kayode said Mr. Jonathan's aides would do well to get to advise him to get on his
knees and beg his political mentor, stressing "Only Obasanjo, with the help and support of President Ibrahim Babangida
and Vice President Abubakar Atiku, has the power, authority and moral gravitas within the PDP to call the dissidents to
order and rally their support.
"Without that President Goodluck Jonathan is finished and he should just wave goodbye to his 2015 re-election
ambitions."
The former minister added that if All Progressives Congress, APC, joined forces with the Kawu Baraje faction of the PDP,
they would form the next government at the centre. "The APC, with the support of the PDP dissidents, will form the next
Federal Government of Nigeria.
That is the way to go. PDP as we once knew her has gone forever "The ship has hit the rocks and she has sunk to the
bottom of the sea. She is dead and buried and my prayer is that her soul rests in perfect peace."

DRUNK PIG FIGHTS COW IN AUSTRALIA

It seems that going out, getting drunk and then getting into a fight is
no longer reserved for humans after a feral pig reportedly went on a
violent, alcohol-fuelled bender.
The swine drank 18 beers on its bender in Port Hedland, Western
Australia, according to ABC News.
The alcohol also made the pig hungry and was seen looking through
rubbish bags for something to eat.
‘In the middle of the night these people camping opposite us heard a
noise, so they got their torch out and shone it on the pig and there he
was, scrunching away at their cans,’ said a camper who had
witnessed the hog’s shenanigans.
If this wasn’t bad enough the animal then got into fisticuffs with a
cow and came off worse in the exchange.
‘Then he went and raided all the rubbish bags,’ the camper added.
‘There were some other people camped right on the river and they saw
him being chased around their vehicle by a cow.’
The last sighting of the pig was of it lying under a tree after
seemingly becoming overwhelmed by the alcohol, with police actively
looking to locate it.

APPLE RELEASES iPHONE 5S AND 5C

Apple has unveiled two new handsets: the top-end iPhone 5S and a
cheaper iPhone 5C at an event in California.
The 5S features a new faster chip designed by the company. The 5C
comes with a plastic back in a choice of five colours.
It marks a change of strategy for Apple which has not launched two
distinct types of handset at the same time before.
The iPhone is the firm's most important product in terms of earnings
power.
Apple also revealed the revamped mobile operating system, iOS 7,
would be available to download for use on the earlier iPhone 5 and
4S models from 18 September.
The new devices will include copies of Apple's word processing,
spreadsheet and presentation apps which had previously cost extra.
The basic 5C model, with 16 gigabytes of storage, has been priced
$99 (£63) with a two-year contract in the US. That is the same as
network operators had charged for the ageing 4S.
China slowdown
Its most recent financial report said the product line accounted for
$18.2bn (£11.6bn) of sales in the April-to-June quarter. That figure,
which did not include downloads from its App Store, represented just
over 50% of Apple's total revenue for the period.
However, while the number of iPhones sold was 20% up on the
previous year, the company has been losing market share.
iPhones accounted for 13% of global smartphone shipments in the
second quarter, according to research firm IDC, down from 17% for the
same period a year earlier.
In contrast Android's share has grown from 69% to 79%.
Investors have been particularly concerned about Apple's performance
in China.
At the start of 2013, chief executive Tim Cook predicted the country
would eventually become Apple's biggest market.
But the company's latest results showed sales in China and Taiwan
were 14% lower in the April-to-June quarter than the previous year.
That was despite the fact it saw 12% growth for the same period in
the US.
"The cheaper iPhone is critical for expanding the addressable market,
because many people in China and elsewhere simply can't afford to
buy a current generation iPhone, especially when it's not subsidised,"
said Jan Dawson, chief telecoms analyst at the consultancy Ovum.
"However, the key risk for Apple in launching a cheaper iPhone is that
it may cannibalise sales of the high-end phone.
"That would exacerbate a problem Apple's had for the last few
quarters, as average selling prices for iPhones have fallen from $608
to $581 in the past year. That in turn squeezes margins and it's only
likely to get worse with a cheaper iPhone."