Despite the European Medicines Agency EMA’s conclusion that AstraZeneca vaccine was “safe and effective”, authorities in Finland have joined other Scandinavian countries to suspend the vaccination, Euronews reports. The country’s public health authority said two people developed blood clots after being vaccinated. As a result, jabs will be suspended “until there is more information and a possible causality can be assessed”. Dozens of European countries had suspended the vaccine amid reports of blood clots. Some, such as Italy, Germany and Spain indicated they would restart AstraZeneca vaccinations after the EMA’s safety review on Thursday. But Norway, Sweden and Denmark said…
Author: Abdallah el-Kurebe
The Vice- Chancellor of University of Lagos, Prof. Oluwatoyin Ogundipe, and another botanist, Dr Temitope Onuminya have won 2021 Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) grants. Mrs Nonye Oguama, a Principal Assistant Registrar, Corporate Affairs of the institution, made the disclosure in a statement on Saturday in Lagos. According to Oguama, the awards are part of the 2021 Biodiversity Information for Development (BID) programme, funded by the European Union. Ogundipe, a Professor of Botany, won a national level grant of €38,000 for his project proposal: “Implementation of the Biodiversity Information and Data System for Coastal Ecosystem in Nigeria”. Onuminya, on the…
President Muhammadu Buhari has congratulated Tanzania’s Vice-President Samia Suluhu Hassan as she takes over the country;s president following the death of President John Magufuli. The president’s congratulatory message, to the first ever female president of the country, was released by Malam Garba Shehu, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity in Abuja, on Friday. Buhari urged President Samia Hassan to unite the nation and lead the country in a good direction. The president expressed his desire to work with the new Tanzanian president, to advance mutual issues that were of common African and global interest. NAN
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has recorded 130 new cases of COVID-19, bringing the total number of infections in the country to 161,539. The NCDC disclosed this on its official Twitter handle on Friday. “On the 19th of March 2021, 130 new confirmed cases were recorded in the country. “Till date, 161,539 cases have been confirmed, 147,581 cases discharged and 2,027 deaths across the country. “The 130 new cases were reported from 13 states – Lagos (46), Ogun (19), Kwara (18), FCT (12), Kaduna (10), Ekiti (six) Abia (five), Edo (three), Sokoto (three), Osun (three), Niger (two), Oyo…
The Enugu Police Command on Friday, said it arrested a total of 39 suspects for various criminal offences, as well as recovered 10 assorted rifles and ammunition in the state, in one month. The state’s Commissioner of Police, Mr Mohammed Aliyu, who disclosed this said that the the suspects were arrested for offences ranging from armed robbery, kidnapping, cultism, unlawful possession of firearms, child stealing and conspiracy, car and phone snatching, house burglary, among others. Speaking in Enugu, following arrests made between Feb. 12 and March 18, Aliyu explained that the arrested suspects included 37 males and two females, who…
The Muslim Rights Concern, MURIC, has advised Kwara state government to rename schools that have refused to obey court pronouncements and government’s directives on the use of hijab in such schools. This is contained in a statement by its director, Professor Ishaq Akintola on Saturday. “It is obvious that the Kwara State chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) is determined to forment trouble. It has refused to obey court judgements. It has also rejected government’s directive on the approval of hijab for female Muslim students. “Worse still, CAN incited its members in the state to occupy the schools.…
The National Judicial Council (NJC) has recommended 18 candidates to President Muhammadu Buhari for appointment as Justices of the Court of Appeal. This is contained in a statement by the spokesperson of NJC, Soji Oye, on Friday in Abuja. The council said the decision to recommend the Judges for the various appointments was taken at the 94th Meeting of NJC held on Dec. 17 to Dec. 18 2020 under the Chairmanship of the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Tanko Muhammad. The Council further approved the appointment of eight heads of court, even as it constituted a panel to probe allegations that…
A large group of former prominent anti-Apartheid activists and leaders from religious, civil society, business and labour organisations have launched a campaign to defend South Africa’s Constitution and democracy and prevent the country from becoming a failed state. They include Reverend Frank Chikane, a top aide to former President Thabo Mbeki, former Minister Sipho Pityana, and Cheryl Carolus. They have strongly condemned former President Jacob Zuma’s defiance of the Constitutional Court. Zuma publicly defied the order to appear before a graft commission chaired by deputy chief justice Raymond Zondo, citing personal relations with him. Zondo rejected this claim, saying they…
The World Health Organisation (WHO) says nearly seven million COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered in Africa. WHO Regional Office for Africa disclosed this in a statement issued from its headquarters in Brazzaville, Congo, on Thursday. It stated that the vaccines had been administered after months of waiting on the side-lines for vaccines and many of the first wave of countries had started vaccinating high-risk groups. The statement stated that Dr Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Regional Director for Africa, spoke at a virtual press conference on COVID-19 in the regional office headquarters. The UN health agency said countries had accessed vaccines…
Former South Africa’s President, FW de Klerk, on Friday announced that he is undergoing treatment for cancer. The country’s last Apartheid-era President who shared the Nobel Peace Prize with Nelson Mandela issued the statement to mark his 85th birthday. He said he has been diagnosed with mesothelioma, which is a cancer that affects the tissue that lines the lungs. He was a heavy smoker for decades. The life expectancy for most mesothelioma patients is about 12 months after diagnosis. De Klerk served as State President from 1989 to 1994 and as Deputy President from 1994 to 1996. PANA