TOKYO, April 2 (GNN) - Japan's Nikkei share average rose
on Thursday, rebounding from a three-week low, helped by
short-covering and hopes that the central bank is buying stocks.
The Nikkei benchmark ended 1.5 percent higher to
19,312.79, posting the biggest daily percentage gain since
February 12.
The broader Topix gained 1.7 percent to 1,554.17 and
the JPX-Nikkei Index 400 also added 1.7 percent to
14,126.63.
Central bank data showed that it bought 35.2 billion yen
worth of exchange traded funds (ETF) on Wednesday, when the
market fell to a three-week low.(Reuters)
Nikkei posts biggest daily gain since mid-Feb on short-covering; BOJ buying helps mood
U.S. condemns Kenya attack, says offering help to take on al Shabaab
(GNN) - The United States on Thursday strongly condemned an attack by gunmen from the Islamist militant group al Shabaab on a Kenyan university campus and said it was offering Nairobi assistance to take on the group that has links to al Qaeda, the White House said in a statement.
(Reuters)(Reporting by Sandra Maler; Editing by Mohammad Zargham)
(Reuters)(Reporting by Sandra Maler; Editing by Mohammad Zargham)
How technology eased Buhari's path to power in Nigeria
Three decades after seizing power in a military coup, part of the 72-year-old former general's appeal to the electorate in Africa’s biggest economy lay in his successful rebranding as a man who embraced democracy.
A good deal of that rebranding happened online, where campaigning from smartphones can build momentum at low cost.
"The digital strategy has been a lifeline of the campaign for young people. We needed to create an image that enabled people to connect with him," Adebola Williams, the 29-year-old whose Lagos-based communications company, StateCraft, orchestrated Buhari's digital drive, told Reuters.
Even the doubters conceded that they had seen campaign material online.
"There were a lot of discussions on their Facebook pages, but I am not sure that really influenced me," said Endurance Dauda, 24, a student in the northern city of Kaduna, who said many of her friends are not online.
While not everyone was convinced the online methods swung their vote, the potential is hard to argue with.
Africa’s most populous nation - with 170 million inhabitants - has some of the world's highest levels of mobile phone ownership. There are 127 million mobile phone subscriptions in Nigeria, the International Telecommunications Union says.
"In the last four years it has become a lot easier and cheaper to get the Internet on your phone. It isn't exclusive anymore," Williams said, arguing that going online is no longer a luxury, despite most Nigerians living on less than $2 a day.
Defeated president Goodluck Jonathan's team also used social media, including YouTube videos highlighting Buhari’s autocratic past and facets of Jonathan’s life. In one, he was seen exercising with a personal trainer and playing squash.
But possibly more significant than the online campaigning was the use of biometric machines to identify voters, which prevented the ballot-box stuffing and multiple voting that characterised past polls.
"The card reader played a constructive role in deterring individuals who, in the past, have tampered with the electoral process either through ballot stuffing or tampering with the election results," said Dr Christopher Fomunyoh, of the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs, a non-governmental organization that promotes democracy.
As a result, this election was judged Nigeria's freest and fairest election yet.
"Fortune favors the bold. Deciding to go hi-tech was absolutely the right thing to do," U.S. Ambassador James Entwistle said after the poll.
Once the biometric aspect of election technology had been proven, there was only way for the victor to celebrate.
When Buhari got the call from Jonathan conceding defeat, Williams used his phone to capture the moment and share the image on Twitter and Instagram.
(Reuters)(Additional reporting by Felix Bate; Editing by Tim Cocks and Alison Williams)
How technology eased Buhari's path to power in Nigeria
(GNN) - Somali al Shabaab militants said they were still holding many hostages inside a Kenyan university campus, nearly two hours after Interior Minister Joseph Nkaissery said the siege was nearing its end.
"We still control the scene and have many hostages," Abdiasis Abu Musab, al Shabaab's military operations spokesman, told Reuters without giving exact figures.
"Lying around us are also dead bodies, many more than the dead bodies that were carried out," Musab added. Nkaissery earlier said at least 70 people had been killed and 79 wounded in the attack on the campus on the northeastern town of Garissa.
(Reuters)(Reporting by Feisal Omar; Writing by Drazen Jorgic; Editing by Andrew Roche)
"We still control the scene and have many hostages," Abdiasis Abu Musab, al Shabaab's military operations spokesman, told Reuters without giving exact figures.
"Lying around us are also dead bodies, many more than the dead bodies that were carried out," Musab added. Nkaissery earlier said at least 70 people had been killed and 79 wounded in the attack on the campus on the northeastern town of Garissa.
(Reuters)(Reporting by Feisal Omar; Writing by Drazen Jorgic; Editing by Andrew Roche)
