Official
Lagos to investigate death of chef caused by ‘negligence’
The Lagos State Government has said it would investigate allegations of medical negligence levelled against Premier Specialist Medical Centre, Victoria Island, leading to the death of Peju Ugboma, a chef. Newsmen reported that at least 3,000 people had signed an online petition, as of Sunday morning, calling on Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu and the Ministry of Health to investigate the death. According to a statement signed by Nwabeze Ugboma on behalf of the family, the deceased died days after undergoing fibroid surgery in the hospital. The state government said the Commissioner for Health, Akin Abayomi, has directed the Health Facility Monitoring and Accreditation Agency (HEFAMMA) to conduct a proper investigation into the death of the chef and establish the facts of the matter. “On behalf...
2021 UTME: Mock examination slips ready for printing – JAMB
File Photo The Joint Admissions and Matriculations Board (JAMB) says that mock examination slips for its Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) can now be printed out in preparation for the exercise. JAMB made this known in its Weekly Bulletin of the Office of the Registrar and made available to newsmen on Monday in Abuja. “Candidates who had registered for the 2021 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination and indicated interest to sit for the optional mock examination are to print their mock notification slips from Sunday, May 9. “This is in preparation for the mock examination scheduled for Thursday, May 20. “The optional mock notification slips can be printed from anywhere candidates find to be convenient, provided they have access to the internet. “Candidates are to visit ...
Washington denies Iran state media report saying prisoner swap agreed
The United States on Sunday denied a report by Iran’s state television that the arch-foes had reached a prisoner swap deal in exchange for the release of $7 billion frozen Iranian oil funds under U.S. sanctions in other countries. Iranian state television said on Sunday that Tehran would free four Americans accused of spying in exchange for four Iranians held in the United States and the release of $7 billion in frozen Iranian funds. The U.S. government denied that an exchange was in the works. The state TV, quoting an unnamed Iranian official, also said British-Iranian national Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe would be released once Britain had paid off a debt on military equipment owed to Tehran. A British Foreign Office official played down that report. Iran and world powers are holding talks ...
Niger: Bandits kill two, kidnap assemblyman’s mother
The mother of the one of longest serving members of the Niger State house of Assembly, Alhaji Bello Ahmed Agwara, has been kidnapped. The 78-year-old Hajia Salamatu Ahmadu was abducted at about 9p.m. on Thursday night when some heavily armed gunmen riding on four motorcycles raided the country home of the Peoples Democractic Party (PDP) member in Agwara town. This is coming on the heels of the killing of two people and kidnap of several others at Tegina in the Rafi local government also on Thursday. According to eyewitnesses the bandits were armed with different types of weapons, among them AK-47. Immediately they stormed the town they started shooting sporadically making members of the community to scamper for safety. In the confusion it was learnt that the bandits went straight into the ...
Rebels attack Myanmar army near border, junta knocks back ASEAN plan
Ethnic minority Karen insurgents attacked a Myanmar army outpost near the Thai border on Tuesday in some of the most intense clashes since a military coup nearly three months ago threw the country into crisis. The Karen National Union (KNU), Myanmar’s oldest rebel force, said it had captured the army camp on the west bank of the Salween river, which forms the border with Thailand. The Myanmar military later hit back against the insurgents with air strikes, an aid worker in the area said. The fighting took place as the junta, in a setback for diplomatic efforts by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), said it would “positively” consider the bloc’s suggestions to end the turmoil in Mynamar but only when stability was restored. The ASEAN leaders said after meeting at the weekend...
British premier denies saying ‘let the bodies pile high’
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Monday denied a newspaper report that he had said he would rather bodies piled “high in their thousands” than order a third COVID-19 lockdown. Johnson is facing a stream of allegations in newspapers – all of them denied – about everything from his muddled initial handling of the COVID-19 crisis to questions over who financed the redecoration of his official apartment. The Daily Mail newspaper cited unidentified sources as saying that, in October, shortly after agreeing to a second lockdown, Johnson told a meeting in Downing Street: “No more fucking lockdowns – let the bodies pile high in their thousands.” Asked whether he had made the remark, Johnson told broadcasters: “No, but again, I think the important thing, I think, that people want us to get o...
Naira stable at parallel, official market
Nigeria’s naira remained stable against the U.S. dollar at the unofficial market on Friday, data posted on abokiFX .com, a website that collates parallel market rates in Lagos showed. The data posted showed that the naira closed at N485.00 at the black market, the same rate it exchanged hands with the greenback in the previous session on Thursday. Similarly, the local unit remained stable at the official market. Data posted on the FMDQ Security Exchange window where forex is officially traded showed that the domestic unit again closed at N410.00 at the trading session of the NAFEX window on Friday. Friday’s performance came to be as forex supply slumped significantly. The naira experienced an intraday high of N394.00 and a low of N436.40 before closing at N410.00 on Friday, the same rate i...
European Super League shelved as more clubs withdraw
The European Super League collapsed on Wednesday as eight of the 12 founding members from England, Italy and Spain abandoned the breakaway project. The project collapsed after it came under massive pressure from fans, politicians, football officials and even the British royals. Founder and Juventus chairman Andrea Agnelli told Reuters he was reluctantly calling time on the new league. This was after six English clubs withdrew on Tuesday, with Inter Milan and Atletico Madrid following suit and AC Milan indicating they would too. “The voices and the concerns of fans around the world have clearly been expressed about the Super League, and AC Milan must be sensitive to the voice of those who love this wonderful sport,” the Italian club said in a statement. Agnelli said he still believed in the...
Guinea receives purchase of 300,000 Sinovac coronavirus vaccines
Guinea received on Sunday a shipment of 300,000 Sinovac COVID-19 vaccines purchased from China and is also set to receive a donation of 200,000 Sinopharm shots, Guinean Foreign Minister Ibrahima Khalil Kaba said. Kaba gave no further details on the Sinopharm donation. Guinea is reporting 93 new coronavirus infections on average each day, 59% of the peak in March. There have been 21,460 infections and 138 coronavirus-related deaths reported in the country since the pandemic began. The West African country has administered at least 109,296 doses of COVID vaccines so far, according to government data compiled by Reuters. Assuming every person needs two doses, that’s enough to have vaccinated about 0.4% of the country’s population. The World Health Organization will decide late this month or i...
George Weah wants Liberia to host AFCON
Reuters Liberian President and football legend George Weah has stated that the West African country should host the Africa Cup of Nations tournament in the future. Weah, who has served as Liberia’s president since January 2018 and was FIFA’s World Player of the Year (now known as the Ballon d’Or) in 1995, revealed this ambition while speaking at the official commissioning ceremony of the Samuel K Doe Sports Complex practice pitch earlier this week. The 54-year-old believes that if Liberia can build new venues, hosting the AFCON is a realistic proposition. “Everywhere they’re hosting African Cup, the only reason we can’t host it they will tell you we don’t have so many fields, we don’t have the facilities but I can assure you, we will continue to advocate and make sure the facilities are bu...
Coronavirus: Nigeria has vaccinated over 1 million people – NPHCDA
The National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) has announced that Nigeria had so far vaccinated over a million eligible people out of its target of 70 percent of the nation’s population. The NPHCDA disclosed this on its official Twitter handle, on Thursday. Newsmen report that for the country to achieve herd immunity against COVID-19, it had set an ambitious goal of vaccinating 40 per cent of its over 200 million population before the end of 2021, and 70 per cent by the end of 2022. The country kicked off vaccination on March 5, 2021, commencing with healthcare workers who are mostly at risk to the infections, being the first responders. It noted that the vaccine roll-out would be in four phases, starting with health workers, frontline workers, COVID-19 rapid response team, l...
All Chinese schools now have access to internet
Andrew Brookes/Getty Images All Chinese schools now have full access to the Internet, and 95.2 per cent of them are equipped with multi-media classrooms, according to a senior official with China’s Ministry of Education. The country has been constantly accelerating informationisation of teaching, and sees it as underpinning the modernisation of education, said Zhong Denghua, vice minister of the education ministry, at a virtual conference attended by ministers of education on the E9 Digital Learning Initiative jointly held by UNESCO and Bangladesh on April 6. Following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, online courses thrived across the country as a way to ensure normal teaching activities, said Zhong, adding that nearly 300 million teachers and students had learnt or taught online whi...
