Business / Foreign / politics

World Bank commends Gov. Bello over refund of $4.63m surplus funds

The World Bank has commended Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi State for refunding $4.63 million surplus funds under the Nigeria Erosion and Watershed Management project.

The World Bank commended Bello in a letter of appreciation by its Regional Director, Shubham Chaudhuri.

It described the step as a sign of good leadership.

According to the World Bank, the action by the Governor has made it possible for the organization to extend its projects to other States facing deficit funds and to extend the closing date of its projects.

The World Bank has commended Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi State for refunding $4.63 million surplus funds under the Nigeria Erosion and Watershed Management project.

The World Bank commended Bello in a letter of appreciation by its Regional Director, Shubham Chaudhuri.

It described the step as a sign of good leadership.

According to the World Bank, the action by the Governor has made it possible for the organization to extend its projects to other States facing deficit funds and to extend the closing date of its projects.

“This action was made possible by your Excellency’s leadership, and its timeliness helped the Bank’s decision to extend the closing date of the project from June 30, 2021 to June 30, 2022.

“The returned surplus funds will ensure that other States facing a deficit of funds are able to complete their civil works, while Kogi state focuses on completing its approved ongoing works.

“We look forward to your continued leadership in following up on the progress and completion of such works.

“We trust the project can be brought to an orderly closure in your state, while achieving its intended objective and contributing to transforming lives and alleviating poverty.

“We also take this opportunity to request that you kindly also expedite the issuance of a required Letter of Comfort.”…

Entertainment / Foreign / Music

Wizkid’s ‘Essence’ cracks the Billboard Hot 100, debuts at No. 82

This comes after the song cracked the Billboard Bubbling Under Charts for the first time. This marks a remarkable achievement for Wizkid and Tems, who are signed to the same label and for African music as a whole.

The song marks Wizkid’s third appearance on the charts, after ‘One Dance’ famously hit No. 1 in 2016. For Tems, this marked her first appearance, as her launch gathers heat.

 

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Entertainment / Foreign / News

Eddy Murphy’s son is dating Martin Lawrence’s daughter

Jasmine Lawrence revealed their relationship in a sweet Instagram post celebrating his 32nd birthday on Saturday, July 10, 2021.

“Happy birthday, my love! I’m so incredibly blessed to know you, to love you, and to have you by my side. Cheers to many more blessings, laughs, and beautiful memories! I love you so much!! 🖤✨,” she wrote.

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Crime / Foreign / News

Avocado farmers take up arms as Mexico violence spikes

A convoy of vigilantes snakes along a road in western Mexico, vowing to defend their avocado orchards from gangs sowing terror in a country reeling from a new wave of bloodshed.

Armed with assault rifles and other firearms, the masked men travel between plantations and maintain checkpoints in Ario de Rosales in Michoacan state, the scene of a bloody cartel turf war.

Before they began patrolling the area, residents lived in fear of kidnapping, extortion and theft of avocados, according to a member of the self-defense group Pueblos Unidos, which says it has 700 members.

“We need to be armed to defend ourselves,” he told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity, wearing a badge reading “Down with injustice, no more dead.”

Previously, criminals “came to do what they wanted to us, and that doesn’t happen anymore,” he added.

President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador opposes such self-defense groups — a phenomenon that dates back to 2013 — saying that some of them have become fronts for criminals.

Such comments are not well received in Ario de Rosales, where another Pueblos Unidos member says the president should “get his shoes dirty” to discover the reality of life in the area, where the Jalisco New Generation and Los Viagras cartels operate.

The police and military “feared the criminals or were paid by them to do nothing,” said another vigilante who gave his name as Martin.

‘Hugs not bullets’

It is estimated that there are around 50 such self-defense groups in Mexico, which has seen intensifying violence in recent months, notably in Michoacan and the northern states of Tamaulipas and Zacatecas.

Mexico registered 14,243 murders in the first five months of the year, and the bloodshed has shown no sign of stopping since then.

On June 19, alleged members of the Gulf Cartel shot dead 15 people described by the government as innocent victims in the border city of Reynosa in Tamaulipas.

Four attackers were killed by the police.

One hitman who was arrested said that the massacre sought to “heat up the plaza” …

Crime / Foreign / Law / News

South Africa’s ex-president Zuma hands himself to prison

South Africa’s ex-president Jacob Zuma turned himself in to prison late Wednesday to begin serving a 15-month sentence for contempt of court, his foundation said.

In a historic ruling, the Constitutional Court last week handed Zuma a 15-month term for snubbing anti-graft investigators.

Police had earlier on Wednesday warned they were prepared to arrest the former president by a midnight deadline to enforce the ruling, unless the top court instructed otherwise.

But Zuma decided to make his way to an unnamed prison in his home province of Kwa-Zulu Natal (KZN).

“Please be advised that (ex) President Zuma has decided to comply with the incarceration order,” the foundation tweeted.

“He is on his way to hand himself into a Correctional Services Facility in KZN,” it said, just minutes before the deadline expired.

A convoy of cars believed to be carrying Zuma drove out of his homestead at high speed about 40 minutes before the cut-off time for him to give himself up.

Zuma had mounted a last-ditch legal defense and refused to turn himself in by Sunday night as the court ordered. Under the ruling, police were given three days to arrest him if he failed to surrender.

He had pleaded with the court for an 11th-hour reprieve.

In an urgent request to the Constitutional Court late Wednesday, Zuma’s lawyers asked it to “direct the suspension of its orders… to prevent our client from being arrested prior to all legal processes being finalised”.

Zuma’s first application to halt his arrest was heard on Tuesday but the judgement was reserved until Friday.

Separately, he has pleaded with the Constitutional Court to reconsider and rescind its jail order. That challenge will be heard next Monday.

Zuma, 79, was forced out of office in 2018 and replaced by Cyril Ramaphosa after a nine-year tenure stained by corruption scandals and the taint of cronyism.

Critics nicknamed him the “Teflon president” for his perceived ability to sidestep justice.

But his fortunes changed on June 29 when the court issued its damning judgement against him for contempt.…

Foreign / News

Death toll in Philippine military plane crash rises to 50

Philippine security forces searched among coconut trees on a remote southern island Monday for the flight data boxes of an aircraft that crashed and killed 50 people in one of the country’s worst military air disasters.

The Hercules C-130 transport plane was carrying 96 people, most of them recent army graduates, when it overshot the runway while trying to land in sunny weather on Jolo island in Sulu province — a haven for Islamic militants — on Sunday.

Fifty people, including 47 military personnel and three civilians, died when the plane “skidded” and burst into flames in a village, said Armed Forces of the Philippines spokesman Major General Edgard Arevalo.

Another 53 were injured, most of them soldiers. It is not clear if the pilots were among the survivors.

The three people killed on the ground had been working in a quarry, village leader Tanda Hailid told AFP.

Photos of the scene released by the Joint Task Force-Sulu showed the damaged tail and the smoking wreckage of the fuselage’s back section laying in a coconut grove.

“We have people on the ground to make sure the integrity of the pieces of the evidence that we will retrieve, most particularly the flight data recorder,” Arevalo said.

“Aside from eyewitness accounts, we are also looking for recordings, radio conversation recordings between the pilot and the control tower.”

Arevalo said the military had secured the crash site and would ensure that militants on the island did not disrupt search efforts.

Most of the passengers had recently graduated from basic military training and were being deployed to the restive island as part of a counter-insurgency effort in the Muslim-majority region.

The military has a heavy presence in the southern Philippines where militant groups, including the kidnap-for-ransom outfit Abu Sayyaf, operate.

“This is one of the worst tragic incidents that happened in our armed forces,” said Arevalo. Last month, a Black Hawk helicopter went down during a night-time training flight, killing all six on board. The accident prompted the grounding of the Philippines’ entire Black …

Crime / Foreign / News

South Africa’s Zuma gets 15-month jail term for contempt of court

South Africa’s top court on Tuesday handed former president Jacob Zuma a 15-month jail term for contempt of court following his refusal to appear before graft investigators. “The Constitutional Court can do nothing but conclude that Mr Zuma is guilty of the crime of contempt of court,” judge Sisi Khampepe said.

Zuma, 79, is accused of enabling the plunder of state coffers during his nearly nine-year stay in office.

“This kind of recalcitrance and defiance is unlawful and will be punished,” Khampepe said.

“I am left with no option but to commit Mr Zuma to imprisonment, with the hope that doing so sends an unequivocal message… the rule of law and the administration of justice prevails.”

“The majority judgement orders an unsuspended sentence of imprisonment for a period (of 15 months),” she declared, ordering Zuma to hand himself over within five days.

The commission of inquiry is headed by Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo.

The panel was set up by Zuma himself, under pressure over mounting scandals, shortly before he was ousted in 2018 by the ruling African National Congress (ANC).

But he only testified once, in July 2019, before staging a walkout days later and accusing the commission’s Zondo of bias.

He then ignored several invitations to reappear, citing medical reasons and preparations for another corruption trial.

He presented himself again briefly in November but left before questioning, and Zondo asked to ask the Constitutional Court to intervene.

Most of the graft investigated by the commission involves three brothers from a wealthy Indian business family, the Guptas, who won lucrative government contracts and were allegedly even able to choose cabinet ministers.

Zuma is separately facing 16 charges of fraud, graft and racketeering relating to a 1999 purchase of fighter jets, patrol boats and military gear from five European arms firms for 30 billion rand, then the equivalent of nearly $5 billion.

At the time of the purchase, Zuma was president Thabo Mbeki’s deputy.

He is accused of accepting bribes total of four million rand from one of the firms,

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Crime / Foreign / Sports

Nigerian footballer shot dead by police in UK

An up and coming young Nigerian footballer, Kelvin Igweani, has been reportedly shot dead by the police in the United Kingdom.

Daily mail reports that the shooting incident is currently being investigated by the Thame Valley Force after the Nigerian was shot dead by officers who attended a call-out to a house where a child was found with serious injuries.

Officers were called to a property in Two Mile Ash, north-west Milton Keynes at around 9:40am on June 26 and made a forced entry after acting on information from a witness, said Thames Valley Police in a statement.

Inside, they found a man in his 30s who was later confirmed dead, and a young child with serious injuries.

They also located a man who is believed to be a Nigerian footballer, Kelvin Ifeanyi Odinaka Nathaniel Igweani, 23, with the force, saying it was understood officers deployed a Taser before shots were fired at him.

He subsequently required first aid and treatment from ambulance crew, but was pronounced dead at the scene, TVP said.

The young child was taken to a hospital.

The Independent Office for Police Conduct said a probe is now underway after a police firearm was discharged at the address in Denmead.

“What has happened this morning can only be described as absolutely tragic and will no doubt have an impact on the community. Our thoughts are with those who have been impacted by this incident. Our major crime unit is working closely with the IOPC to understand exactly what has happened,” Assistant Chief Constable, Christian Bunt, said in a statement.…

Covid 19 / Foreign / News

COVID-19: Olympians from six countries to take pre-departure tests for seven days

The Japanese Government has asked participants at the Tokyo Olympic Games from six South Asian countries to take COVID-19 tests daily for seven days prior to their departure for Japan.

Japan’s state broadcaster NHK said on Sunday that athletes and all other members of delegations from India, Nepal, Pakistan, the Maldives, Sri Lanka and Afghanistan will face stricter counter-measures.

It added that this was because of the spreading Delta variant, which was first identified in India.

NHK also said the measures would take effect on Thursday.

Participants from these countries have already been required to be vaccinated before entering Japan, which is not a pre-condition for athletes from other delegations.

All overseas teams should have members tested twice within four days prior to departure, and every day in principle after arriving in Japan.

The latest step also requires participants from Egypt, Vietnam, Malaysia, Britain and Bangladesh to be tested every day for three days prior to departure.…

Foreign / News

Biden administration takes aim at gun trafficking

 

A day before US President Joe Biden was due to announce measures to combat a rise in violent crime, the Justice Department on Tuesday revealed it had created five new units to tackle gun trafficking. 

The units will be set up in the next 30 days and will focus on the major cities of New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Washington, which have suffered a sharp increase in homicides over the past year and a half.

Bringing together federal prosecutors, specialized police officers and local partners, the “firearms trafficking strike forces will investigate and disrupt the networks that channel crime guns into our communities with tragic consequences,” said Attorney General Merrick Garland in a statement.

On Wednesday, Garland will be at the White House when the Democratic president sets out his administration’s strategy to fight rising crime, in the face of criticism from the Republican opposition that he has not properly addressed the problem.

After years of decline, homicide rates rose about 25 percent in 2020, and remain at their highest levels in 2021.

“We believe that a central driver of violence is gun violence,” said White House spokesperson Jen Psaki during a briefing on the issue.

“A big part of that in [Biden’s] view is putting in place gun safety measures, even as Congress is not moving forward currently,” said Psaki, referring to the Republican senators blocking a bill aimed at better regulating the purchase of weapons.

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Foreign / Music

Billie Eilish apologises for mouthing apparent racist slur in resurfaced five-year-old clip

Billie Eilish has apologized after a video surfaced appearing to show her mouthing a racist slur.

The Grammy-winning pop star, 19, shared a lengthy statement to Instagram Stories, writing that she was “appalled and embarrassed” by the clip.

An edited compilation video is being shared on TikTok, where it was posted earlier this month. In the video, Eilish appears to mouth an anti-Asian slur featured in Tyler, the Creator’s 2011 song Fish, and is filmed speaking in an affected voice.

In her apology, Eilish, the youngest artist to ever record a James Bond title track, said she was “13 or 14” in the videos and did not know at the time the slur was a derogatory term.

“I am appalled and embarrassed and want to barf that I ever mouthed along to that word,” she wrote. “This song was the only time I’d ever heard that word as it was never used around me by anyone in my family.

“Regardless of my ignorance and age at the time, nothing excuses the fact is that it was hurtful. And for that I am sorry.”

Eilish said footage of her imitating accents was her speaking in a “silly gibberish made up voice”, something she has done since she was a child.

She added: “It is absolute gibberish and just me goofing around, and is in NO way an imitation of anyone or any language, accent, or culture in the SLIGHTEST.”

Eilish said she did not mean to cause offence and the prospect of causing people hurt “absolutely breaks my heart”.

“I not only believe in, but have always worked hard to use my platform to fight for inclusion, kindness, tolerance, equity and equality,” she wrote. “We all need to continue having conversations, listening and learning. I hear you and I love you. Thank you for taking the time to read this.”…

Foreign / News / Travel

Countries you can travel to with your Nigerian Diplomatic Passport

Anguilla No visa required.
Bahrain May obtain visa on arrival.
Bangladesh Visa on arrival
Barbados 6 months
Benin 90 days
Bolivia No visa required
Brazil
British Virgin Islands Visa on arrival for 1 month.
Burkina Faso Visa free of charge on arrival
Cambodia Visa on arrival up to 30 days. eVisa available.
Cameroon 90 days
Cape Verde No visa required
Chad 90 days
China 30 days.
Comoros Visa on arrival
Cook Islands 31 days.
Cote d’Ivoire No visa required.
Djibouti Visa on arrival
Dominica Up to 6 months.
Ethiopia Visa-free
Fiji Up to 4 months
Gambia Visa-free for 90 days
Ghana Visa-free up to 90 days
Grenada Visa required.
Guinea 90 days
Guinea-Bissau 90 days
Haiti 3 months
Iran Visa on arrival, 30 days
Lebanon Visa on arrival for 1 month. Conditions apply.
Liberia No visa required.
Libya No visa required.
Macau Visa not required.
Madagascar Visa on arrival. 90 days, 30 days free of charge.
Maldives 30 days with possible extension.
Mali Visa-free
Mauritania Visa on arrival at Nouakchott International Airport.
Mauritius Visa-free or visa on arrival. 14-90 days.
Micronesia 30 days.
Montserrat 6 months.
Mozambique Visa on arrival for 30 days.
Niger Visa-free
Niue 30 days.
Palau Visa on arrival for 30 days.
Peru Visa required.
Rwanda 30 days
Saint Kitts and Nevis 30 days
Samoa 60 days.
Senegal 90 days
Seychelles 3 months.
Sierra Leone Visa-free
South Sudan No visa required.
Sudan No visa required.
Tanzania Visa on arrival, but recommended to obtain before departure.
Timor-Leste Visa on arrival for 30 days.
Togo Visa-free access.
Tuvalu Visa on arrival for 1 month.
Uganda 3 months visa on arrival. eVisa available.
Vanuatu 30 days
Zambia No visa required.
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Foreign / News

Twitter ban is Indefinite says FG

Despite widespread anger over the ban on Twitter use in the country, indications emerged, yesterday, that the Federal Government is not ready to shift grounds.

Coming a day after the government met with some envoys, which ended in both parties sticking to their guns and some very influential clerics continuing the use of the popular micro-blogging platform, a top government functionary, last night, told The Guardian that the ban remains indefinite for now as the administration insists ongoing tough on social media regulation.

“In fact, there will be a public communication today or tomorrow asking all foreign social media companies to register before they can be allowed to operate in the country.”

The source further confided that the outcome of Monday’s meeting of the Minister of Foreign Affairs with envoys of the United State, United Kingdom, European Union, Canada and Ireland may not have the blessing of the presidency.

“The government may have regretted the meeting with envoys, giving the impression the Minister may have acted without the full backing of the full house, that is the Presidency. This is because it is believed Twitter has two standards; one for Nigeria and one for other countries. So, for now, the government is not backing down.”

The inkling of the government’s hard stance on maintaining its position despite public criticism emerged when the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN), restated his stand on the ban of Twitter by deactivating his account yesterday.

Only the President’s wife, Aisha Buhari, had similarly deactivated her Twitter account as soon as the ban was announced on Friday. Many top government functionaries and institutions are still maintaining their Twitter accounts. Many have described the ban as an attempt to gag the media, an attack on press freedom, freedom of expression and an attempt to pass the controversial Social Media Bill.

Malami had on Saturday ordered the prosecution of Nigerians defying the Federal Government’s last Friday’s ban on Twitter as a result of the platform’s deletion of President Muhammadu Buhari’s tweet even …

Foreign / News

Man slaps French President Macron in Southern France

The President of France, Emmanuel Macron, was slapped in the face on Tuesday while on a walkabout in southern France, video footage showed.

The incident took place while Macron was on a visit to the Drome region in south-eastern France, where he met restaurateurs and students to talk about the COVID-19 Pandemic.

In the video, Macron, dressed in shirt sleeves, could be seen walking towards a crowd of people who were behind a metal barrier.

The French president reached out his hand to greet one man, in a green T-Shirt, with glasses and a face mask. The man could be heard shouting out “Down with Macronia” (“A Bas La Macronie”) and then he delivered a slap to Macron’s face. Macron’s security was able to quickly intervened to pull the man to the ground and move Macron away from him.

n the aftermath of the incident, two people were arrested.

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Entertainment / Foreign / News

‘Friends’ star Matthew Perry splits from fiancée

According to People, the movie star said their relationship did not work out.

“Sometimes things just don’t work out and this is one of them,” Perry said, in a statement. “I wish Molly the best.”

The former couple started dating in dating in 2018 and got engaged in November 2020.

“I decided to get engaged. Luckily, I happened to be dating the greatest woman on the face of the planet at this time,” Perry told PEOPLE in 2020.

Their split comes on the heels of the premiere of the highly anticipated Friends reunion, which saw Perry getting back together with his former costars from the hit NBC sitcom.

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Foreign / News / Stories

China allows couples to have three children: State Media

China will allow couples to have three children after a census showed its population is rapidly ageing, state media said Monday, further unwinding four decades of strict family planning controls in the world’s most populous nation which have strangled the birthrate.

In 2016 China relaxed its controversial “one-child policy” — one of the world’s strictest family planning regulations — to a “two-child policy” due to widespread concerns over an ageing workforce and economic stagnation.

Despite government efforts to encourage couples to have children, China’s annual births have continued to plummet to a record low of 12 million in 2020, the National Bureau of Statistics said last month, as the cost of living rises and women increasingly make their own family planning choices.

The slump threatens a demographic crisis which has alarmed the ruling Communist Party headed by President Xi Jinping, booking in a shortage of young workers to drive an economy experts say will by 2050 will have to support hundreds of millions of elderly.

A Monday meeting of the elite Politburo leadership committee hosted by Xi announced a further loosening of the state’s control over the size of families.

“To actively respond to the ageing population … a couple can have three children,” state media Xinhua reported.

The Politburo meeting also promised “accompanying support measures” that are also “conducive to the country’s population structure”, though these were left unspecified.

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