Hillary Clinton wins South Carolina primary

Hillary Clinton finally got her landslide. This could redefine the Democratic race for the White House.

Her crushing defeat of Sen. Bernie Sanders in the South Carolina primary Saturday restored Clinton as the undisputed front-runner, as her southern firewall of minority voters held rock solid and her opponent fared poorly among African-American voters.

The former secretary of state, after a narrow win in Iowa, a major loss in New Hampshire and a five-point victory in Nevada, has now captured three of the first four Democratic nominating contests. She's now primed for Super Tuesday, an 11-state Democratic match-up that includes a sweep of Clinton-friendly country in the Deep South.

"Tomorrow, this campaign goes national," Clinton said, in a speech dominated by her new campaign mantra of breaking down racial, gender and economic barriers, which has been distilled from the experience of tough months on the campaign trail and the stronger-than-expected populist challenge from Sanders.

With 99% of votes counted, Clinton led by a huge margin, 73.5% to 26%, and was ahead by a staggering 174,000 votes.

Gianni Infantino to Lead FIFA Into New Era

Gianni Infantino had just won the FIFA presidency on Friday, but seemed to be still sorting out how to row the boat of leadership.

Mr. Infantino’s ascent to perhaps the most powerful position in sports was hardly foreseeable several months ago. As soccer’s beleaguered governing body reeled from one crisis - that of widespread corruption allegations and arrests among its leadership - it seemed to be headed for another. Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim al-Khalifa, a member of Bahrain’s royal family, was considered the favorite to become the next FIFA president in Friday’s election but faced questions about possible connections to the bloody crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in his country.

Instead, Mr. Infantino, a Swiss administrator, will try to lead global soccer out of its darkest period after FIFA’s voting members, in an upset, chose him to follow the suspended Sepp Blatter, once a Swiss administrator himself. Mr. Infantino, 45, becomes just the ninth president in FIFA’s 111-year history, a reality that is emblematic of its long-embedded resistance to change.

Zimbabwe President showered with praises as he turns 92

The world’s oldest leader, Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe turned 92 on Sunday, with no plans to step down as feuding over his successors threatens to tear his ruling ZANU-PF apart.

The veteran leader will mark the day with a public celebration.

Last year’s party was a massive feast with several elephants slaughtered and seven gigantic birthday cakes, one weighing 91 kilogrammes.

On Sunday, state media lauded Mugabe for his leadership since independence from Britain in 1980, while the opposition urged him to consider stepping down.

In its 16-page special birthday supplement, the Sunday Mail described Mugabe as a “doyen of Pan-Africanism”.

“Thank You Bob, We now have a voice, since 1980,” said the paper on its front cover.

“Long live comrade Mugabe” read another message, adding: “We pride ourselves in your visionary, bold, insightful and fearless leadership.”

But the main opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), said Mugabe should think about whether his country, which is in the grips of an economic crisis, would not be better saved by his bowing out. 

“Robert Mugabe should take time to reflect and say, isn’t it time for me to pass on the baton,” MDC spokesman Obert Gutu told AFP.

Mugabe once quipped that he would rule until he turns 100.

D. Trump praises Pope Francis after US-Mexico wall row

Republican Presidential Candidate Donald Trump has heaped praise on Pope Francis, hours after the pontiff questioned his Christian faith over his vow to build a border wall with Mexico.

The billionaire struck a more conciliatory tone after earlier calling the Pope's comments "disgraceful".

The Pope had said Mr. Trump's proposal to build a wall on the US border with Mexico was not Christian, provoking a strong response from the businessman.

When asked about his row with the Pope, he said he wouldn't describe it as a fight, although he later said he didn't like fighting with him.

"I have a lot of respect for the Pope. He has a lot of personality and I think he's doing a very good job, he has a lot of energy."

He said the pontiff was misinformed when he criticised the proposed wall, because he was not aware of the drugs coming in and the other security problems that made a strong border a necessity.

Earlier in the day, Pope Francis said "a person who thinks only about building walls... and not of building bridges, is not Christian".

That was roundly condemned by Mr. Trump, who issued a statement in which he called the comments "disgraceful".

His anti-immigration stance is a central plank in his campaign - he wants to deport 11 million undocumented migrants and said Muslims should be temporarily barred from coming to the US.

Zika vaccine shows promise in mice

Huge hopes of developing a vaccine against Zika virus took a small step forward on Wednesday as Inovio Pharmaceuticals Inc. said its experimental shot had induced a robust and durable response in mice.

Shares in the U.S. biotech firm, which expects to test its product in humans before the end of the year, jumped 7 percent in premarket trading on the prospect of it developing a vaccine against the mosquito-borne disease.

At least 15 companies and academic groups are currently racing to develop Zika vaccines, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), spurred on by growing public concern over the virus sweeping across the Americas.

Zika, whose symptoms include mild fever and rash, has been linked to brain damage in thousands of babies in Brazil, although the connection is not yet proven.

There is no proven treatment or vaccine for the disease, a close cousin of the viruses that cause dengue, chikungunya and West Nile fever.

Inovio said in a statement that mice given its vaccine showed the development of antibodies and generated a response from T-cells, which play an important role in immunizing the body.

"We will next test the vaccine in non-human primates and initiate clinical product manufacturing. We plan to initiate Phase I human testing of our Zika vaccine before the end of 2016," Inovio Chief Executive Joseph Kim said.

Phase I is the first stage in a three-step process of testing new medicines and involves giving an experimental product to healthy volunteers.

Why Nigeria should not use PMCs against Boko Haram; Ex-mercenary proclaims

In spite of the ubiquitous, if underexposed, presence of Private Military Companies (PMCs) in the world’s conflict zones, where they regularly provide security and logistics for the United States (U.S.) and British military, this recent action raised some uncomfortable questions about the future of conflict in the region and on a global scale.  

The media interaction between EU Managing Editor BRUNO BAYLEY of VICE, an on-line publication and McFate (a former mercenary with firsthand experience of Private Military Companies (PMCs) operations in Liberia and Burundi) reveals the following:

In an interview granted London Telegraph, the President derided the immediate past administration for engaging mercenaries from South Africa to defeat Boko Haram insurgents.

The mercenaries were engaged by the Federal Government in the twilight of the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan.

When asked by the London-based newspaper if he will tow the path of his predecessor, Buhari retorted: “I personally was very disappointed that the previous government resorted to mercenaries. I was also disappointed by the recent revelations of how military allocations were also misappropriated.

“How is it that Nigeria’s military, which has a good record across West Africa, cannot claim back 14 out of 774 local government areas from Boko Haram? They have to ask for mercenaries from South Africa? How the mighty has fallen!”

According to him, the Federal Government was not under any pressure to seek foreign military help beyond training missions.

Sean McFate, a former mercenary with firsthand experience of Private Military Companies (PMC) operations in Liberia and Burundi, spoke on the consequences of engaging mercenaries.

McFate, a professor at the National Defence University and Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service, told Bruno Bayley, EU Managing Director of VICE that involvement of mercenaries to quell internal uprising could be a threat to weak countries.

FG Disengages Heads of NTA, FRCN, NAN and other Information Parastatals

The Federal Government has disengaged the heads of the six information-related parastatals under the Ministry of Information and Culture.

The Minister of Information and Culture, Mr. Lai Mohammed, announced the disengagement during a meeting he held with the Chief Executives of the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA), Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN), Voice of Nigeria (VON), News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Nigerian Broadcasting Commission (NBC) and the National Orientation Agency (NOA) on Monday.

According to a statement signed by SA to the Minister, Segun Adeyemi, the Minister directed the disengaged Chief Executives to hand over to the most senior officials in their various establishments.

He thanked them for their service to the nation and wished them the best of luck in their future endeavours.

The affected Chief Executives are the Directors-General of NTA, Mr. Sola Omole; FRCN, Mr. Ladan Salihu; VON, Mr. Sam Worlu; NOA, Mr. Mike Omeri; NBC, Mr. Emeka Mba and the Managing Director of NAN, Mr. Ima Niboro.

China 'catch-up' sell-off expected after Lunar New Year holiday ends

Markets are bracing for a "catch-up" sell-off by Chinese traders as the world's second-largest economy resumes trading on Monday.

A week's break for Chinese Lunar New Year could have been a week of reprieve for financial markets, which have been speculating wildly on Chinese currency devaluation and demand.

Instead, last week saw savage sell-offs in global banking stocks, and continued volatility.

Asian shares performed miserably and this risk-off sentiment is likely to channel through to Chinese markets, says research by Credit Suisse.

The Nikkei 225 slumped 11 per cent last week, and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index (tightly correlated to the mainland's movements) reopened after a three-day New Year break down 3.85 per cent. CSI300 futures are pointing to a drop of 20 points.

"Under such a turbulent environment, combined with the Chinese stock market's own plunges in January, Monday's reopening may bring in heavy volatility to Chinese stocks," said Renee Mu, currency analyst at DailyFX.

Aussie stocks are set to open higher after the rally in US and European stocks on Friday, led by financials and miners. But with such large declines globally over the week, a rocky start to Chinese trading could put pressure on Australian stocks.

"Given the Australian market is predominantly banks and miners, expect a strong open locally," said Matt Felsman, private wealth adviser at APP Securities.

"However, with such declines globally last week, we wait as China may need to play "catch-up", which could dampen our enthusiasm."