Royal Bank of Scotland to pay $4.9bn US subprime fine

Britain's state-rescued Royal Bank of Scotland said Thursday it had been fined $4.9 billion by the US Justice Department over its role in the subprime crisis.

The huge sum, the equivalent of 4.1 billion euros, was however less than feared and resulted in a sharp share price gain for the government-owned lender.

RBS said in a statement that it reached a preliminary deal "with the US Department of Justice (DoJ) to resolve its investigation into RBS's issuance and underwriting of US residential mortgage-backed securities between 2005 and 2007".

It follows a separate fine of $5.5 billion agreed in July 2017 with the Federal Housing Finance Agency over the same matter.

Edinburgh-based RBS, which remains 71 percent owned by the British government after receiving the world's biggest banking bailout at the height of the subsequent 2008 global financial crisis, described the news as a "milestone".

?Today's announcement is a milestone moment for the bank," said chief executive Ross McEwan.

"Reaching this settlement in principle with the US Department of Justice will, when finalised, allow us to deal with this significant remaining legacy issue and is the price we have to pay for the global ambitions pursued by this bank before the crisis.

"Removing the uncertainty over the scale of this settlement means that the investment case for this bank is much clearer,? McEwan added.

The lender added that $3.46 billion of the settlement will be covered by existing provisions, while it will take another $1.44 billion charge for the second quarter of 2018.

Shares in RBS jumped 4.5 percent to 288.5 pence in early deals on London's benchmark FTSE 100 index, which was up 0.2 percent overall.

That "a significant obstacle that had been hanging over the bank looks finally to have been cleared", noted analyst Michael Hewson at CMC Markets UK.

- Resurgence -

Britain's Conservative government is meanwhile planning to return RBS to private ownership with the aim of selling £15 billion of its stake by 2023.

However, it had stressed that the subprime claims needed to be resolved before it could start selling down its holding.

RBS last year posted its first annual bottom-line profit since 2007, the eve of the global financial crisis, following a huge drop in litigation costs.

And the bank recently revealed that this year's first-quarter net profits more than tripled on lower restructuring costs and rising income.

Earnings after tax surged to £792 million ($1.1 billion, 911 million euros) in the first three months of this year.

That easily beat analysts' consensus forecasts and compared to a £259-million profit in the same period of 2017.

Sepp Blatter opposed to joint World Cup bids amid 2026 proposals

Former Fifa president Sepp Blatter has reiterated his view that World Cups should be staged in one country rather than co-hosted by multiple nations.

Blatter, 82, said football's world governing body is now interested in co-hosted World Cups because it wants to increase the tournament to 48 teams.

A decision on the hosts of the 2026 World Cup will be made on 13 June.

United States, Canada and Mexico have made a joint bid while Morocco has also bid to host the event.

"To have three big countries together... they have proven they can host it alone, so why are the three together?" Blatter told Mani Djazmi, from the BBC's World Football programme.

Disgraced former president Blatter was in charge of football for 17 years until he was banned amid a corruption scandal in 2015.

The World Cup has only been staged in more than one country once when it was co-hosted by South Korea and Japan in 2002, a tournament Blatter says was a "nightmare in organisation".

He said joint bids were denied from Libya and Tunisia for the 2010 tournament, and Spain and Portugal, and Belgium and the Netherlands for 2018, because of a decision from Fifa not to consider a "combined organisation".

Blatter has also criticised a taskforce introduced for the 2026 bidding process which has the power to exclude a bid to host the competition before the vote at Fifa's congress.

"They cannot do that," Blatter said.

"Even if one of the candidates is not a good one, they have the right to be at the congress.

"That's why I'm advocating that Morocco has to go to the congress. Morocco cannot be kicked out before the congress."

How Fayose mocked APC after PDP primaries

Ayo Fayose, Ekiti State Governor has mocked the All Progressives Congress (APC) following the peaceful conduct and successful conclusion of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) governorship primaries in the state on Tuesday night.

DAILY POST reports that Prof. Kolapo Olusola, deputy governor of Ekiti State emerged as the PDP governorship candidate.

Olusola polled 1,191 votes to beat former party spokesman, Prince Dayo Adeyeye, who polled 770 votes.

Fayose, however, took to his Twitter handle on Wednesday morning to say APC should learn from PDP and be democratic for once.

“Good morning Nigerians. I thank you all for standing by us in Ekiti & @OfficialPDPNig yesterday.

“What you saw here in Ekiti was our party’s demonstration of how the people should choose their leaders.

“I hope the @APCNigeria will also learn from this and be democratic for once.

“Should the @APCNigeria be ready for tutelage on how to conduct free, fair and transparent primary elections, we will be glad to help the party.

Burkina Faso on track for GDP growth of around 6 percent this year - IMF

Burkina Faso’s economy is on track to grow by around 6 percent this year, in line with the last two years’ average, the International Monetary Fund said in a statement on Monday.

Burkina Faso’s economy expanded by more than 6 percent per year on average during 2016-2017, showing considerable resilience in the face of security and weather-related shocks.

‘‘This performance reflects considerable resilience in the face of external shocks, notably three significant terrorist attacks in Ouagadougou over the last two years and a deteriorating security situation in the border regions in the north, as well as poor rainfall in 2017, which threatens food security in the country,’‘ said Dalia Hakura, who led the IMF team that visited Burkina Faso.

This performance reflects considerable resilience in the face of external shocks, notably three significant terrorist attacks in Ouagadougou over the last two years and a deteriorating security situation in the border regions in the north, as well as poor rainfall in 2017, which threatens food security in the country.

The West African nation, which agreed a programme with the Fund in March, will meanwhile aim to reduce its fiscal deficit to 3 percent of GDP by 2019 after it ballooned to an unprecedented 7.7 percent last year.

Nina laments, reveals what Imo govt did to her

Ex-Big Brother Naija 2018 housemate, Nina has expressed disappointment in Imo state government for not recognising her.

This was after the winner of the just concluded reality show, Miracle was invited and honoured by the Imo state government as ‘Education Ambassador’

But, Nina who is also an indigene of Imo and a student of Imo state University (IMSU) was not recognised or awarded any appointment.

Reacting on her Instagram page, Nina lamented thus, “Feeling bad right now. I was not recognised in my own state. But it is well.”

Somali gunmen abduct German ICRC nurse in Mogadishu

A German nurse working for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) was kidnapped in Somalia's capital Mogadishu, the aid group said.

She was seized by unknown armed men from inside the ICRC compound at 20:00 local time (17:00 GMT) on Wednesday.

The 10 remaining international staff are being evacuated to Nairobi until further notice, the ICRC told the BBC.

A Somali woman working for the World Health Organization, also in Mogadishu, was shot dead by gunmen on Tuesday.

A relative of the woman, identified as Maryan Abdullahi, said she was targeted while at a market to buy items in preparation for her wedding next week.

There is no suggestion her killing and the abduction are linked.

Decades of conflict have made Somalia one of the world's most dangerous countries for aid workers, but security has improved in recent years and Wednesday's kidnapping is the first involving a foreign worker in almost 10 years.

"We are deeply concerned about the safety of our colleague," said Daniel O'Malley, the ICRC's deputy head of delegation for Somalia, in a statement.

"She is a nurse who was working every day to save lives and improve the health of some of Somalia's most vulnerable people."

Staff believe the kidnappers took their colleague out through a back door, avoiding security guards stationed at the main entrance of the ICRC compound, Reuters reported.

A police hunt for the nurse is under way. It is not known who is behind the kidnapping.

The Swiss-based agency, which has provided humanitarian aid in Somalia for years, has temporarily suspended movement in Mogadishu but said Somali staff would continue ICRC's programs outside the capital.

Somalia collapsed into anarchy in 1991 when war lords overthrew a military regime. Major armed conflict has since subsided, which allowed for parliamentary and presidential elections to take place in 2012.

However, al Qaeda-linked al-Shabab militants still regularly launch attacks in the capital and elsewhere in the country.

Court remands Dino Melaye in police custody

A senior magistrate court 2 in Lokoja, Kogi state has remanded Senator Dino Melaye, lawmaker representing Kogi West in Police custody till June 11th, 2018.

The senator who was brought into the court in a police ambulance was accused of armed sponsoring.

The embattled senator was on Thursday arraigned at the Magistrate court in Lokoja, Kogi state.

PRESS Reports that, Melaye who was on Wednesday arraigned at the Chief Magistrates Court, Wuse for criminal conspiracy and granted bail for N90 million was re-arrested to immediately face other criminal charges against him in Lokoja, Kogi State.

The Force headquarters, in a statement by its spokesman, Jimoh Moshood had said, “Senator Dino Melaye was arraigned in court by the Police today, 2nd May, 2018 at the Chief Magistrate Court, Wuse, Abuja for Criminal conspiracy, causing damage to government property, attempted suicide and escape from lawful custody.”

However, Melaye was brought into the court premises in an ambulance amid heavy security.