A Ukrainian official says only a small number of alleged atrocities against civilians in Ukraine, for which Russian soldiers are standing accused, are reported. Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Olha Stefanishyna told an Italian newspaper, La Repubblica, that only 10 per cent of crimes were reported. “We have found evidence of many crimes, including sexual crimes, which often go unreported,” the official said. She said that it was a Russian tactic to break the morale of the Ukrainian population. “With the help from the European Union, we are investigating these silent crimes. “We are setting up centres for survivors, for those who…
Author: Newsdesk
Nigerian government on Friday launched the first FABLAB 1.0, in line with the implementation of National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy (NDEPS). The digital fabrication laboratory (FABLAB) is the engine of implementation of ideas, innovation which serve all the entities within an ecosystem. FABLAB has state-of-the-art equipment that includes Printed Circuit Board (PCB) production equipment, Computer Numerical Control (CNC) machines, 3D printers, servers, Graphics processing units (GPUs), and other things. While commissioning the FABLAB 1.0 on Friday in Abuja, the Director General (D-G), National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Kashifu Abdullahi, said the FATLAB is part of the agency’s effort…
A leading Sudanese politician has been arrested as protests raged in the capital Khartoum for the seventh month against military rule. The military deployed tear gas and heavy security force to quell the protests. A military coup in October effectively ended a 2019 power-sharing deal between generals, who overthrew President Omar al-Bashir, and political parties that opposed him. One of those parties, the Sudanese Communist Party, said its leader Mohamed Mukhtar Al-Khatib was arrested on Thursday, following a visit to Juba where he met with leading Sudanese rebel leaders. The party, which has been the most hard-line against the coup…
The European Union development ministers will meet on Friday to discuss the impact of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, one of the world’s biggest grain producers, on a looming global food crisis. “Russian President, Vladimir Putin has become an aggressor against large parts of the world, especially in Africa, the Middle East, but also in Asia,’’ said Jochen Flasbarth, a senior official in Germany’s Economic Cooperation Ministry, arriving at the meeting in Brussels. According to the German government, Russia is blocking the export of 20 million tons of grain from Ukraine, primarily to North Africa and Asia, much of it is…
The African ministers of finance have said that health reforms are key to Africa’s economic recovery. This is contained in a statement from the Communications Department of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) on Friday. The ministers said this during a roundtable on “the Future of Health and Economic Resiliency” at the just-concluded ECA Conference of Ministers (CoM2022) in Dakar, Senegal. The ministers, who spoke on the backdrop of the COVID-19 crisis, said Africa should realise the importance of investing in strong health systems and pharmaceutical companies that could produce medicines locally. Amadou Hott, the Senegal Minister of…
A Coalition of Concerned Women in Leadership (CCWL) has embarked on a rally, advocating for implementation of 35 per cent affirmative action for women contesting for elective positions in 2023. The National President of CCWL, Mrs Uduak Oludemi, made the call at a rally held at the Lagos State House of Assembly in Lagos on Friday. The coalition under the auspices of Voice of Widows Foundation also went to the Lagos All Progressives Congress (APC) secretariat and Sen. Bola Ahmed Tinubu residence. Out of the 109 senators in the National Assembly, only nine are women and only 27 out of…
The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD)’s Value Chain Development Programme (VCDP) on Friday distributed fertilizer and other farm inputs to 447 poor rural rice and cassava farmers in Taraba. Dr Fatima Aliyu, the Acting National Programme Coordinator (NPC) of VCDP, while distributing the items in Jalingo, explained that it was made possible through IFAD’s COVID-19 Rural Poor Stimulus Facility grant. According to him, the facility grant to VCDP, through the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, is meant to cushion the effect of COVID-19 pandemic on poor rural farmers. Represented by Mr Musa Dalang, Aliyu said the grant is meant for farmers…
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government joined Canada’s closest intelligence allies in banning Huawei Technologies Co. from fifth-generation wireless networks. The Chinese state-championed telecommunications firm poses a threat to Canada’s national security, Industry Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne said Thursday, confirming an earlier Bloomberg News report. ZTE Corp. equipment will also be prohibited. Firms that already have Huawei or ZTE gear installed will have to remove it by the end of 2027, Champagne’s department said in a statement. Trudeau’s government had delayed the decision for more than three years, as relations between Canada and China deteriorated, and a ban would almost certainly stoke…
The federal government has commenced the payment of minimum wage arrears, which it owed lecturers under the aegis of the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP) and Academic Staff Union of UNIVERSITIES (ASUU) as part of efforts to end ongoing strikes by the unions. The National President of ASUP, Dr. Anderson Ezeibe, and the Chairman, ASUU FUTMinna, Dr. Gbolahan Bolarin, confirmed this in separate interviews with newmen on Thursday. Confirming the payment on Thursday, Ezeibe, however said that was just the beginning. “The government has started responding. They just started paying the salary/minimum wage arrears, the one they have refused…
By Fadhlillah Abdallah Sokoto government has lifted the curfew imposed on the state following the killing of a female student of Shehu Shagari College of Education Sokoto, Deborah Samuel. This is contained in a statement by the state Commissioner for Information, Isah Bajini Galadanci and made available to newsmen on Friday. I the statement, the state governor, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal acted on the powers conferred on him by the constitution, the Public Order Act and Sokoto State Peace Preservation Law. “Acting on enabling powers under section 176 (2) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, section 1, 2…