FROM FORDHAM UNIVERSITY TO KWAME NKRUMAH UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

NEW YORK.....The Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology(KNUST)Kumasi Ghana,is to receive vintage science books and magazine from the department of Sociology and Anthropology of Fordham University in New York ,United States of America.

The books and magazines which are rated number one in the United States are a thirty (30)year collection which has been digitized by the school.Making the presentation through Friends of Ghana,a non-profit organization based in the United States of America,the chairman of the department of sociology and anthropology of Fordham University,Professor Allen .S.Gilbert said"the department is extremely grateful that the books which are of great value has finally gotten to a group that has education as its vision and burden for onward delivery to the KNUST".

The department professor Gilbert intimated will work closely with Friends of Ghana to help other universities and colleges in Ghana to stock their libraries with the needed materials for growth and development.

The facilitator of this donation ,Mr kojo Ampah of the African Cultural Exchange and a student of the university was pleased he has been able to facilitate the deal to enable a university in Ghana where he comes from to benefit.
"I know that the materials will go a long way in the research work of KNUST and help solidify other science projects within the university and Ghana as a whole."

Friends of Ghana has been operating in Ghana since 2005 and has been playing an important role in the area of education,supporting some schools in Ghana with various educational materials.
The president and CEO of Friends of Ghana ,Joseph Johnson was full of praise for Fordham University and the department of sociology and anthropology in particular and says- this will enormously help in shaping up science and technology studies at KNUST and raise standards in science research in the university.
The organization settled on the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology due to its role in science education and research in Ghana.
"Trust me. Currently science and Technology is being pursued all over not just because it builds a nation;But it sends a nation into the realm of technological advancement"
Mr Johnson was however quick to add that the challenges of his organization is securing funds on time to ship items it receives for shipment to Ghana.He cited an example of a fire engine for high-rise buildings it received but could not pay for the cost of shipment to Ghana so it is still sitting ideal at the fire station.
He thanked professor Allen Gilbert for the gesture and hoped for more materials in the future.

The value of the 30year vintage collections is estimated at 350,000.00 us dollars.

Fordham University has recently become a center of African issues and its department of African and African-American Studies in collaboration with the African cultural Exchange will be hosting the first ever Africa week celebration in spring 2010.
In line with the Jesuit principles ,the university is leaving "no stone unturned" in ensuring Africans within the university community have a platform for showcasing their culture and strengthening democracy.

Source:EKOW MENSAH-SHALDERS

NIGERIAN NATIONAL CHARGED

WASHINGTON—A 23-year-old Nigerian man was charged in a federal criminal complaint today with attempting to destroy a Northwest Airlines aircraft on its final approach to Detroit Metropolitan Airport on Christmas Day and with placing a destructive device on the aircraft.

According to an affidavit filed in support of the criminal complaint, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, 23, a Nigerian national, boarded Northwest Flight 253 in Amsterdam, Netherlands on December 24, 2009 and had a device attached to his body. As the flight was approaching Detroit Metropolitan Airport, Abdulmutallab set off the device, which resulted in a fire and what appears to have been an explosion. Abdulmutallab was then subdued and restrained by the passengers and flight crew. The airplane landed shortly thereafter, and he was taken into custody by Customs and Border Patrol officers.

A preliminary FBI analysis found that the device contained PETN, also known as pentaerythritol, a high explosive. Further analysis is ongoing. In addition, FBI agents recovered what appear to be the remnants of the syringe from the vicinity of Abdulmutallab’s seat, believed to have been part of the device.

“This alleged attack on a U.S. airplane on Christmas Day shows that we must remain vigilant in the fight against terrorism at all times,” Attorney General Eric Holder said. “Had this alleged plot to destroy an airplane been successful, scores of innocent people would have been killed or injured. We will continue to investigate this matter vigorously, and we will use all measures available to our government to ensure that anyone responsible for this attempted attack is brought to justice

Abdulmutallab required medical treatment and was transported to the University of Michigan Medical Center after the plane landed. He will make his initial court appearance later today.

Interviews of all of the passengers and crew of Flight 253 revealed that prior to the incident, Abdulmutallab went to the bathroom for approximately 20 minutes, according to the affidavit. Upon returning to his seat, Abdulmutallab stated that his stomach was upset, and he pulled a blanket over himself. Passengers then heard popping noises similar to firecrackers, smelled an odor, and some observed Abdulmutallab’s pants leg and the wall of the airplane on fire. Passengers and crew then subdued Abdulmutallab and used blankets and fire extinguishers to put out the flames. Passengers reported that Abdulmutallab was calm and lucid throughout. One flight attendant asked him what he had had in his pocket, and he replied “explosive device.”

These prosecutions are being handled by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Michigan, with assistance from the Counter-terrorism Section of the Justice Department’s National Security Division.

The investigation is being conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and the Joint Terrorism Task Force. The public is reminded that criminal complaints contain mere allegations, and a defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty.

FILED BY:EKOW MENSAH-SHALDERS

Mexico Arrests Tie Family's Killing to Violent Gang

MEXICO CITY -- Mexican authorities have detained four people in connection with this week's murder of a slain navy officer's family, a killing they say was carried out by a notoriously violent drug gang in retaliation for the recent death of drug kingpin Arturo Beltrán Leyva.

Two of those arrested transported money to pay the hit men, who are still at large, Rafael Gonzalez, the attorney general of Tabasco state, where the killings took place, said Wednesday. He said two other people arrested, including one woman, acted as lookouts on the street where the killings took place.

REUTERS

Mexican officers on Wednesday presented four people arrested in connection with the apparent reprisal killings of a slain naval officer's family. Police linked the murders with a drug cartel led by former Mexican soldiers.

"The killers themselves are still at large, but we are in the process of identifying them and will do everything we can to capture them," Mr. Gonzalez said at a news conference. He added that authorities suspect that some local police were involved in protecting the hit men and possibly helping allow them to escape.

Last week, Mr. Beltrán Leyva died during an assault by navy special forces on a luxury apartment tower in a central Mexican city. He was the highest-ranking drug lord to be killed or captured by Mexico in years. Also killed in the gun battle was 3rd Petty Officer Melquisedet Angulo, who was hailed as a national hero by the military and President Felipe Calderón and was buried Monday with full military honors.

Just hours after his burial, hit men burst into his family's home and killed his mother, aunt and two siblings. A third sibling remains in critical condition.

Mr. Gonzalez said the killing was carried out by a drug gang called the Zetas, formed by deserters from an elite Mexican army unit who went to work as enforcers for the Gulf Cartel, which controls trafficking along the Mexican Gulf Coast south of Texas.

The Zetas have since grown into a drug-trafficking organization notorious as Mexico's cruelest. The group is said to have pioneered, among other things, the tactic of beheading victims to intimidate rival drug gangs, the government and ordinary citizens. It has branched out into other kidnappings and extortion, Mexican officials say.

Mexico's War on Drugs

Until now, the Zetas have stopped short of killing family members of soldiers or policemen who fight them in the country's war on drugs. Analysts worry it could signal the growing use of terror tactics to pressure the government to back off.

Mexico, a leading supplier of marijuana, cocaine, methamphetamines and heroin to the U.S., likely has the world's most powerful illicit drug cartels. Mr. Calderon has staked his presidency on a high-profile assault on drug gangs, sending 45,000 army troops to several parts of the country in a bid to stop the growing power of cartels and slow a wave of drug-related violence that has killed around 15,000 people in the past three years.

The death of the navy sailor's family will raise pressure on the government to better protect those on the front line of the drug war as well as their families.

This year, drug gangs murdered 12 federal police officers and dumped their bodies alongside a highway in western Michoacan state in retaliation for the arrest of a drug trafficker in the La Familia cartel. The head of customs for Mexico's Gulf port of Veracruz disappeared in what officials say was likely retaliation by the Zetas for his unit's role in helping to seize various shipments of illegal drugs.

For much of the past three decades, Mexico and Washington have tried to curtail the trade by going after drug kingpins like the late Mr. Beltrán Leyva. But as the drug lord's death shows, drug-trafficking organizations usually survive their leader's death. Already, Mexican officials are guessing who will replace Mr. Beltrán Leyva in the cartel that carries his name.

Write to David Luhnow at david.luhnow@wsj.com