McConnell wife Elaine Chao’s father founded shipping company Formost Group.

Most of Formost’s ships were built by China’s state-owned China State Shipbuilding Corp (CSSC).

CSSC is one of the top 10 defense groups in China.

Bravery

6 May 17, I was privileged to fly on the last chopper that brought back the released Chibok girls. Seeing the girls - young, naive BUT broken, was a reminder of how cruel man is. When we touched down, I stayed with them briefly in the C-130 before the Abuja lap.

Military medics began basic checks, deworming them and tending their wounds. There was one particular girl who had lost a leg. She said the Air Force had hit BHT positions & during the strike she lost a leg. I stared at her, wishing it was a dream.

Sitting beside her was another girl - the bravest girl I ever met. For the purpose of this thread, let us call her 'N'. N kept a daily journal of what happened everyday at the BH camp. I snapped as many pages as I could. The girls attested that she was the leader of the pack.

Right under Boko Haram's nose, every night, after the terrorists had ordered them for 'lights out', she would organise the girls for prayers & morning devotion the next day. I found myself smiling sheepishly at this. This is faith. This is bravery.

When the medics were done & we were notified that the C-130 would depart for Abuja, N made a signal & all the girls sat up, crossed their legs & bend their heads. N led them in prayers. I would later learn that this was their routine when there was danger or the bombs dropped.

-THREADE-
#Germany #China #5G #Huawei

In contrast to countries like Great Britain, Germany does not exclude the Chinese with 5G across the board. But now the cabinet has agreed on stricter rules for foreign network equipment suppliers.

The federal government has been arguing for two years, now there is a draft law, the cabinet is supposed to get it underway on Wednesday. In contrast to countries like Great Britain and Sweden, Germany does not exclude Chinese companies across the board.

But Berlin, too, subjects the use of companies to strict rules. This is a problem for the German network operators: they have made themselves heavily dependent on #Huawei over the past few years. In the radio network of Deutsche Telekom, Vodafone and Telefónica,

around half of all components usually come from Huawei. With the new 5G cellular standard, data can be transmitted in real time. This opens up new opportunities for industry, but also increases the risk of cyber attacks. The focus on security is correspondingly large.

The draft of a “Second Law to Increase the Security of Information Technology Systems” therefore now uses a two-stage test procedure. In addition to an examination of the technology, there should also be a political assessment of the trustworthiness of manufacturers.

Can anyone fathom out how weapons like this make their way into the hands of terrorists in Nigeria?

These weapons are in boxes marked with serial numbers. Where there are serial numbers there are invoices or receipts. Which means it was imported. This is worrisome and raise questions about where the terror groups are sourcing their heavy weapons.

Weapons proliferation was once linked to the fall of Gadaffi. Libya was at one point the main source of arms to terror groups on the continent. For those unaware of the dynamics ill give a brief explanation:

When NATO bombed the crap out of the Gadaffi regime in 2011, Libya lost control of a large part of the stockpile it had amassed in over 40 years. The CIA made several calls for ground troops to be deployed to secure Gadaffi's amoury from falling into the hand of rebel groups.

The French kicked against sending ground troops, saying it will give the impression Libya was under a NATO occupation, Its just not worth the political capital to do so. The CIA made this call TWICE and TWICE it was shut down. The logic was securing those sites

Today Vice President @ProfOsinbajo presided over a meeting of the National Economic Council (NEC), to critically review the security situation in the country. Council recommitted to the following principles:

#NECBrief
#AsoVillaToday
#Thread

The Council recommitted to the following principles:

1. The protection of all residents of all States, including non-indigenous communities and religious and ethnic minorities within State jurisdictions;

2. The arrest and prosecution of all perpetrators of crime;

3. In collaboration with federal authorities, the reconstruction of destroyed homes and payment of compensation where appropriate by State authorities for damage to property and livelihoods sustained during targeted attacks on communities within their jurisdictions;

4. Ensuring that deceased victims of such violence are duly accorded dignified burial rites;

5. The immediate public and unequivocal condemnation of all manifestations of hatred, targeted violence, and other hate crimes against ethnic, religious, and minority groups;

6. Ensuring that local security initiatives—whether State Govt law enforcement agencies/local vigilante groups/ @PoliceNG Community Policing programme—are inclusive & composed with due consideration given to adequate representation of non-indigenous/minority resident communities;