Putin issued a warning to Ukraine not to deploy the largely internationally outlawed cluster munitions that were shipped recently by the United States.

“I want to say that Russia has sufficient reserves of various types of cluster munitions,” Putin said in a video clip released by Russian state TV.

Russia did not want to use this resource, he added. “But of course, if it is used against us, then we reserve the right to take congruent actions.”

Human rights activists accuse Russian and Ukrainian forces of already using cluster bombs.

Putin denied this, even though he admitted that for a time there was a “known shortage of the ammunition” on the Russian side.

Cluster munitions are missiles and bombs that burst in the air over the target and scatter many small explosive devices.

Their use is controversial because a considerable proportion of them do not detonate but remain unexploded, like mines, endangering civilians long after hostilities have ended.

A total of 111 countries have outlawed cluster bombs under an international treaty, but the U.S., Ukraine and Russia have not signed that treaty.

Ukraine can potentially use the munitions to help clear extensive Russian defensive positions in its ongoing counter-offensive to retake its territories in the east and south.

The provision of the controversial cluster munitions is intended to fill a “gap” for Ukraine, according to the U.S. administration.

U.S. President Joe Biden was determined not to leave Ukraine “defenceless,” Biden’s National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan told US broadcaster CNN on Sunday.

Biden had earlier acknowledged that the U.S. had little other ammunition left in its stockpiles and described cluster munitions as a temporary solution.

Asked about this, Sullivan said that after Biden’s administration took office, it had been determined that the stockpiles of NATO standard munitions in the U.S. were “relatively small.”

Putin also mocked European politicians, whom he described as being totally dependent on the U.S. on state television on Sunday.

He also stated that Russian specialists will analyse the NATO weapons captured during the war against Ukraine and use them to improve Russia’s military systems.

READ ALSO: Biden defends decision to send Ukraine controversial weapons

“If there is an opportunity to look inside to see if there is something there that can be applied in our country, well, why not?” Putin told Russian state television on Sunday.

Putin repeated his assertion that Ukraine’s counter-offensive to liberate its occupied territories in the east and south of the country was unsuccessful.

In contrast, Ukraine has reported numerous territorial gains.

The Russian military often uses social media networks to display captured military equipment donated by Western allies who support Ukraine.

There have been proposals in the parliament in Moscow to organize an exhibition of the spoils of war.

Ukraine also displays captured Russian weapons in the city centre of the capital Kiev.

Meanwhile, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock is heading to New York to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the founding of the International Criminal Court, ICC.

There, she is expected to give a speech calling for a reform of international law so that perpetrators of a war of aggression such as the Russian leader are held accountable.

“No one should be allowed to wage a war of aggression in the 21st century and go unpunished,” the Baerbock said on Sunday before her trip to New York.

Source: dpa/NAN

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At a media briefing on Tuesday in Abuja, the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said CNN, a multinational news television channel was in a rush to vindication.

The minister who disclosed the federal government position on the report said “it is fake, riddled with so many errors and cannot be relied upon because its authenticity is in doubt.”

He added: “CNN apparently didn’t even read the report before rolling out the drums in celebration.

“By that action, CNN has celebrated prematurely and has now committed a double faux pas: first, by relying on unverified social media stories and videos to carry out an investigation of the October 20 2020 incident at Lekki, where it did not have a correspondent on ground.

“CNN goofed in its report on the findings of the panel, which fell below the main standards of journalism.

“Secondly, CNN rushed to the air to celebrate an unsigned and unverified report that is riddled with inconsistencies, errors, discrepancies and innuendoes.

“That’s double faux pas by a news organisation that is eager and willing to compromise standards just to claim vindication.’’

The minister also berated some section of the Nigerian media which he said had also joined the lynch mob.

“Honestly, in an attempt to vilify government at all costs, they have done themselves a great disservice.

“How can any news organisation worth its salt write an editorial validating this kind of report?

“Are they not seeing what others, including journalists and lawyers are seeing?

“In a shocking twist, a Nigerian newspaper chose to hail what it calls ‘’detailed investigative report’’ by CNN, even when the news channel did not even cover the incident of October 20 2020!

“It’s a classic case of cutting your nose to spite your face,’’ he said.

Mohammed reiterated that there was nothing in the report in circulation that would make the government to change its stand that there was no massacre at Lekki on October 20 2020.

Source: NAN

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DJ Switch whose name is Obianuju Udeh is a Nigerian disc jockey who is on self-imposed exile over 2020 EndSARS protest and the Lekki toll gate incidence.

The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji  Lai Mohammed said the trio should tender unreserved apology for portraying the Nigerian military, police and other security agencies in bad light.

Addressing newsmen on Wednesday in Abuja on the first anniversary of the Lekki toll gate incidence, the minister reiterated that contrary to the claims by CNN, Amnesty International and the disc jockey, the military did not shoot at protesters.

“CNN acted unprofessionally by relying on unverified, and possibly-doctored social media videos, as well as other open-source information to conclude that a massacre took place at the toll gate.

“On its part, CNN went from 38 people killed to two to just one, after a supposed global exclusive even when the network had no reporter on ground at the Lekki Toll Gate on October 20, 2020.

“On Monday, the Judicial Panel of Inquiry that was set up by the Lagos State Government after the EndSARS protest wrapped up its sitting.

“During the sitting, CNN was summoned but it never showed up, thus missing a great opportunity to prove its allegation of massacre at the toll gate.

“In its latest attempt to grasp at straws and redeem whatever is left of its battered credibility on this issue, CNN has continued with its baseless report that soldiers shot at protesters,’’ he said.

The minister said Amnesty International also had a golden opportunity to convince the world, but it rather opted for issuing “meaningless press releases”.

Mohammed condemned a current report running on the CNN network on the purported massacre contending that the international news platform acted unprofessionally.

“CNN brazenly and unashamedly held on to its flawed narrative, relying on an unidentified mother whose son was reportedly shot dead at Lekki, but without convincing evidence of who shot him dead.

“The same CNN that tweeted on October 23, 2020 that 38 people were shot dead at Lekki is now struggling to convince the world that one boy was killed at Lekki. What a shame,’’ he said.

He said the federal government remained proud of the security agencies for acting professionally and showing restraint all through the EndSARS protests and the ensuing violence.

The minister said it was the professionalism and restraint of the security agencies that saved lives and property of many.

“The six soldiers and 37 policemen who died during the EndSARS protests are human beings with families even though the Human Rights Organisations and CNN simply ignored their deaths, choosing instead to trumpet a phantom massacre,’’ he said.

Source: NAN

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“In the past week, we have been made aware of three employees who were coming to the office unvaccinated,” said the memo sent to CNN staff on Thursday and obtained by the Times.

“All three have been terminated. Let me be clear — we have a zero-tolerance policy on this.

“You need to be vaccinated to come to the office. And you need to be vaccinated to work in the field, with other employees, regardless of whether you enter an office or not. Period,” the memo added.

The names of the dismissed employees were not revealed, according to two staffers at the WarnerMedia unit.

Vaccinated employees have been allowed to return to CNN offices on a voluntary basis.

They have used the honour system to confirm their vaccination status through the company’s pass-card system and have not been asked to show proof.

Zucker said that might change in the weeks ahead.

Zucker also said CNN “is delaying a formal return date to the office,” located at Hudson Yards on the west side of Manhattan.

Employees were expected to return September 7, but due to the recent surge in COVID-19 cases, largely caused by unvaccinated individuals, the date has been pushed to mid-October.

Companies throughout the country are taking a harder line on allowing unvaccinated individuals to work.

More than 150 people at Houston Methodist resigned or were fired after the hospital system required a COVID-19 vaccine as a condition of employment.

A number of media organisations – including CBS News, where staffers work closely side by side – require visitors to show proof of vaccination before entering a company facility.

About a third of CNN’s news personnel are working on-site after more than a year of working remotely because of the pandemic.

Employees are allowed to return to the office two weeks after completing the vaccination process.

Source: tca/dpa/NAN

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King conducted an estimated 50,000 interviews in his six-decade career, which included 25 years as host of the popular CNN talk show Larry King Live.

He died at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, according to Ora Media, a production company he co-founded.

Earlier this month, he was treated in hospital for COVID-19, US media say.

The talk show host, famous for his braces and rolled-up sleeves, had faced several health problems in recent years, including heart attacks.

King was married eight times to seven women and had five children.

Two of them died last year within weeks of each other – daughter Chaia died from lung cancer and son Andy of a heart attack.

‘Unique and lasting talent’

King carried out interviews with every sitting US president from Gerald Ford to Barack Obama and a number of world leaders.

His other high-profile guests included Dr Martin Luther King, the Dalai Lama, Nelson Mandela and Lady Gaga.

“For 63 years and across the platforms of radio, television and digital media, Larry’s many thousands of interviews, awards, and global acclaim stand as a testament to his unique and lasting talent as a broadcaster,” Ora Media said in a statement, without giving the cause of death.

Born Lawrence Harvey Zeiger in Brooklyn, New York, in 1933, King rose to fame in the 1970s with his radio programme The Larry King Show, on the commercial network Mutual Broadcasting System.

In 1985 he launched Larry King Live on the fledgling CNN, and became one of the network’s biggest stars.

The programme, broadcast around the world, was a success with audiences, with King answering thousands of phone calls from viewers.

He earned a number of honours, including two Peabody awards, but was also criticised for his non-confrontational approach and open-ended questions. King boasted of not doing much research for the interviews so, he said, he could learn along with viewers.

By 2010 his ratings had dropped significantly, with critics saying King’s approach felt outdated in an era of more aggressive interviewing styles.

King then announced his retirement, saying: “It’s time to hang up my nightly suspenders.”

In his final programme on CNN, he told his viewers: “I don’t know what to say, except to you, my audience, thank you. Instead of goodbye, how about so long?”

CNN replaced him with British journalist and broadcaster Piers Morgan, whose programme King criticised for being “too much about him”.

Morgan, whose programme was cancelled three years later, said on Twitter on Saturday: “Larry King was a hero of mine until we fell out after I replaced him at CNN & he said my show was ‘like watching your mother-in-law go over a cliff in your new Bentley.’

But, Morgan added, King “was a brilliant broadcaster & masterful TV interviewer.”

In a statement, CNN president Jeff Zucker said: “The scrappy young man from Brooklyn had a history-making career spanning radio and television.

His curiosity about the world propelled his award-winning career in broadcasting, but it was his generosity of spirit that drew the world to him.”

Most recently, King hosted another programme, Larry King Now, broadcast on Hulu and RT, Russia’s state-controlled international broadcaster.

A Kremlin spokesman was quoted as saying by state RIA Novosti news agency: “King repeatedly interviewed Putin. The president has always appreciated his great professionalism and unquestioned journalistic authority.”

Outside broadcasting, King founded the Larry King Cardiac Foundation in 1988, a charity which helps to fund heart treatment for those with limited financial means or no medical insurance.

Source: BBC

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The minister gave the admonition on Friday in Abuja during a stakeholders’ meeting with members of the Broadcasting Organisation of Nigeria (BON).

Speaking on the faux pas of the Cable News Network, CNN, in the report of the EndSARS protest and alleged killings at Lekki Toll Gate, Mohammed said local stations would have dictated the pace in reporting the incident objectively.

“The lesson to draw from CNN’s faux pas on its report of EndSARS protest is that it magnifies the failure or inadequacy of our own broadcast organisations.

“In the wake of our spat with CNN, people are asking: Why didn’t our own broadcast stations take the lead in reporting the incident at Lekki?

“Why didn’t they take the lead in presenting an authentic narrative?

“Why must we allow the foreign broadcast stations, some of which didn’t even have correspondents on ground, to dictate the pace, thus misleading the world?

“These are questions begging for answers and I think for BON, this must form part of their review of the coverage of the whole crisis,’’ he said.

The minister also cautioned local broadcast stations against the use of unverified videos for their reports.

He said the non-adherence to the basic tenets of journalism had combined to land CNN in trouble.

“This station has been caught in the web of fake news and disinformation, after it relied heavily on videos it took from social media for a supposed exclusive investigation on the incident at the Lekki Toll Gate on October 20th.

“The station was also found to be inconsistent: After tweeting, without a shred of evidence, from its verified handle on October 23rd that soldiers killed 38 peaceful protesters at the Lekki Toll Gate on October 20th, the same station now said only one person was killed.

“It is baffling that an organisation like CNN will rely on unauthenticated videos to carry out an investigation.

“More worrisome is that an international broadcaster like CNN will switch casualty figures so casually without a credible source.

“This is why we have written a letter to CNN asking it to use its own internal mechanism to probe its investigation,’’ he said.

Mohammed said they had received an acknowledgement of the petition to the CNN and awaiting the outcome of its probe.

He said the government would not sit by and allow any news organisation to set Nigeria on fire with irresponsible and unprofessional reporting.

On the three broadcast stations sanctioned by the National Broadcasting Commission, NBC, in the aftermath of theEndSARS protests, the minister said the action was to deter irresponsible reporting.

“Some analysts have attempted to muddle the waters by alleging an attempt to stifle the media. This is sheer red herring.

“The simple truth is that the NBC imposed fines on the three broadcast stations for using unverified and dangerous information from social media.

“Two of the stations have paid in full, while one has paid in part,’’ he said.

Mohammed appealed to broadcast stations to refrain from using unverified information on social media.

“Despite the temptation, the stations must adhere strictly to the gate-keeping tradition instead of rushing to use materials that are not authenticated,’’ he said

The Vice Chairman of BON, Geoffrey Ohuabunwa, who responded on behalf of other members, thanked the minister for the meeting.

He called for regular interaction between the minister and the organisation.

Ohuabunwa also called for a more seamless access to government information by BON members to enable them disseminate news on government programmes and agenda.

He enjoined the minister to redouble his commitment to the actualisation of Digital Switch Over before the end of President Muhammadu Buhari’s tenure.

Source: NAN

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Our attention has been drawn to an ‘investigation’ by CNN, entitled ‘How a Bloody Night of Bullets Quashed a Young Protest Movement’ and aired on 18 Nov. 2020, in which the international news organization said it had “uncovered that Nigerian security forces opened fire on unarmed protesters” at the Lekki Toll Gate in Lagos, Nigeria, during the #EndSARS protest.

We write to put on record that the report did not just fall short of journalistic standards, it reinforces the disinformation that is going around on the issue, it is blatantly irresponsible and it is a poor piece of journalistic work by a reputable international news organization.

In the first instance, the report did not live up to the most basic of the core principles of journalism – balance and fairness. According to the website www.ethics.journalists.org, “balance and fairness are classic buzzwords of journalism ethics: In objective journalism, stories must be balanced in the sense of attempting to present all sides of a story. Fairness means that a journalist should strive for accuracy and truth in reporting, and not slant a story so a reader draws the reporter’s desired conclusion.”

Rushing to air such a momentous story without presenting the government’s side is inexcusable and indefensible. CNN said it contacted over 100 protesters and family members, but did not speak to one official of Nigeria’s federal government. While CNN said there was no response from the army and that officials of Lagos State would not speak in view of the Judicial Panel that is investigating the matter, it did not say what effort it made to speak with any official of the federal government.

The truth is that CNN did not even attempt to reach the federal government. Nima Elbagir, who presented the report and most probably led the investigation, is conversant with the Minister of Information and Culture, who is also the Spokesman for the Federal Government of Nigeria, yet did not say that she even tried to reach the Minister. It is therefore strange, to say the least, that she would rush to air such an important ‘investigation’ report without getting the government’s side. In other words, Nima, and by extension CNN, breached the most basic of the core principles of journalism – balance and fairness.

CNN has said it stands by its story, and that “our reporting was carefully and meticulously researched”, This is baffling, considering that the story lacks fairness and balance, as we have pointed out, and that the organization relied heavily on manipulated social media videos.

Another serious breach by CNN, in its ‘investigation’, is that the network relied heavily on unverified footages it harvested from social media. CNN was not present at the Lekki Toll Gate on the night of the incident. Neither its reporter nor cameraman was there, but it relied on eyewitnesses. Well, this is fraught with danger. While experts say eyewitness testimony is a potent form of evidence, it is also subject to unconscious memory distortions and biases, Unlike CNN, a reporter from the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) Pidgin Service, Damilola Banjo, was at the Lekki Toll Gate on the night in question, and was quoted as saying soldiers shot sporadically into the air and not at the protesters –  a direct contradiction of the position taken by CNN who relied on second and third-hand information.

In airing its ‘investigative’ report, CNN conveniently forgot that on Oct. 23rd 2020, it emphatically tweeted, from its verified twitter handle, that the military killed 38 people when it opened fire on peaceful protesters on Tuesday, Oct. 20th 2020. Almost a month later, the same CNN – after a supposedly exhaustive investigation – is now reporting only one death from what the world was made to believe was a massacre. Is CNN not embarrassed by this sharp climbdown? Has CNN owned up to this and apologized for its faux paz?

It is also interesting that while CNN obtained footage showing when the vehicles carrying soldiers left their barracks and arrived at the Lekki Toll Gate, it could not obtain any footage showing the bodies of those supposedly killed in the ‘massacre’. After all, forensic ballistic experts will most likely testify that firing military grade weapons into a crowd will not leave anyone needing a microscope to look for blood or bodies at the scene.

CNN has said it stands by its story, and that “our reporting was carefully and meticulously researched”, This is baffling, considering that the story lacks fairness and balance, as we have pointed out, and that the organization relied heavily on manipulated social media videos. This resort to an escapist cliche seems more like a face-saving measure by an otherwise respectable news network caught in the blinding glare of ‘fake news and disinformation’ headlamps. Or how else does one explain the arrogant defence of an international news network that would not even respect the most basic principle of journalism?

One of CNN’s star eyewitnesses in its ‘investigative’ reporting is DJ Switch. Unknown to CNN, DJ Switch’s story on the Lekki Toll Gate shooting has changed several times. From claiming she counted 78 bodies of protesters who were supposedly killed by soldiers on the night of the Lekki Toll Gate incident, she has twice, at least, changed the casualty figure from 78 to 15 and then to 7, without a shred of evidence. CNN cannot pretend not to know that for anyone to act as a witness, his or her credibility must be unimpeachable. DJ Switch’s credibility does not meet that threshold.

While it is up to CNN to accede or not, please note that the Federal Government reserves the right to take any action within its laws to prevent CNN from aggravating the #EndSARS crisis with unprofessional, irresponsible, one-sided, inciting and sensational reporting that is capable of pitching Nigerians against themselves and setting the country on fire.

In one of social media videos of DJ Switch that was used by CNN (see attached link 1), the lady (DJ Switch) claimed she and some unnamed persons carried dead bodies and dropped them at the feet of the soldiers. She also claimed she spoke to their Commander before the soldiers threw the bodies into the vans. Curiously, for someone who was streaming live on Instagram during the Lekki Toll Gate incident, there was not a single video or picture of the dead bodies. Not even Godson (Uyi), another CNN star witness whose video was also used by the network, or any of the hundreds of protesters, all armed with smart phones, at the scene recorded a video or shot a picture of dead bodies being carried away by soldiers.

Talking of Godson, despite claiming to have analyzed hours of footage, it is curious that CNN conveniently left out key parts of Godson’s 57-minute, 5-second video (see attached link 2). For example, 13 minutes, 40 seconds into the video, there were voices, in street lingo, in the background telling Godson that the gunshots were not from the soldiers (na boys dey shoot, that na local gun sound….it’s boys, meaning touts and hoodlums, who are shooting. That’s local gun). Some 20 minutes, 14 seconds into the video, Godson confirmed that the boys had brought out their guns and were shooting (local okah, he called it). Some 23 minutes, 14 seconds into the video, Godson said ‘wait, all these boys dey shoot’ (meaning gunshots rang out from the touts/hoodlums). CNN, in its rush to nail soldiers and tell a ‘radically different story’, conveniently left out these parts of the Godson video, which could have shown that armed hoodlums invaded the Lekki Toll Gate that night, and could have hit any of the protesters as they shot sporadically. This is clearly a ploy by the CNN reporter/presenter to manipulate viewers of its ‘investigative’ report and force them to draw the reporter’s desired conclusion! Another video showing an armed protester at the Lekki Toll Gate (see attached link 3) was apparently not among the footage reviewed by CNN!

It is shocking that all through its ‘investigation’, CNN did not for once mention the fact that six soldiers and 37 policemen were killed during the #EndSARS crisis, which also left 196 policemen injured, not to talk of the monumental destruction of government and private properties across the country. Instead, the network is fixated on the massacre that never happened. Are security agents not human beings too? Are they not entitled to the protection of their human rights?

For the record, this is not the first time that CNN has carried an inaccurate or hoax story about Nigeria. In February 2007, Nigeria accused CNN of staging one of its reports from the country’s Niger Delta region, showing gunmen holding 24 Filipinos hostage. Of course, CNN and its then Africa Correspondent Jeff Koinange flatly denied the charge, saying the network did not pay for any part of the report. Later, in an email reportedly sent to a friend, Mr. Koinange was quoted as saying: “Of course we had to pay certain people to get the story… You do not get such a story without bribing.” So much for denials!

As a form of remediation, Nigeria’s Federal Government demands an immediate and exhaustive investigation from CNN into its ‘investigative’ report on the Lekki Toll Gate incident to determine, among others, its authenticity, whether or not it met the basic standards of journalism and also the selective use of unverified social media videos to manipulate public opinion. While it is up to CNN to accede or not, please note that the Federal Government reserves the right to take any action within its laws to prevent CNN from aggravating the #EndSARS crisis with unprofessional, irresponsible, one-sided, inciting and sensational reporting that is capable of pitching Nigerians against themselves and setting the country on fire.

Please accept the assurances of my warm regards.

The post Re: How a bloody night of bullets quashed a young protest movement appeared first on Frontpageng.

In a letter by the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, to the organisation, the federal government said the report titled “How a bloody night of bullets quashed a young protest movement” was fraught with irregularities and falsehood.

It therefore called on the organisation to carry out a thorough probe of the report to determine its authenticity.

The letter reads in part: “As a form of remediation, Nigeria’s Federal Government demands an immediate and exhaustive investigation from CNN into its ‘investigative’ report on the Lekki Toll Gate incident to determine, among others, its authenticity, whether or not it met the basic standards of journalism and also the selective use of unverified social media videos to manipulate public opinion.”

The federal government warned that it (government), had the right to take actions that would prevent it from escalating the tension which followed the EndSARS protest in the country.

“While it is up to CNN to accede or not, please note that the Federal Government reserves the right to take any action within its laws to prevent CNN from aggravating the #EndSARS crisis with unprofessional, irresponsible, one-sided, inciting and sensational reporting that is capable of pitching Nigerians against themselves and setting the country on fire,” the statement reads further.

The letter dated November 23, 2020, was addressed to Mr. Jonathan Hawkins, VP, Communications, CNN Centre.

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