Report
China possibly committed ‘genocide’ against Xinjiang Muslims
The Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC) said on Thursday that new evidence had emerged in the past year that “crimes against humanity – and possibly genocide – are occurring”. The CECC also accused China of harassing Uighurs in the US. China has been widely condemned for setting up complexes in Xinjiang that it describes as “vocational training centres” to stamp out “extremism” and give people new skills, but others have called them concentration camps. The United Nations says at least one million Uighurs and other Muslims have been detained in Xinjiang. Faith leaders, activist groups and others have said crimes against humanity, including genocide, are taking place there. Beijing denies abuse accusations. The CECC report called for a formal US “determination on whether atro...
Donald Trump mired in ‘self-pity’ as rift with allies deepens amid impeachment
Donald Trump has reportedly reverted to “self pity-mode” following his impeachment amid frustration that his Republican allies are failing to defend him. A White House adviser told CNN “everybody’s angry at everyone” inside the White House following the ratification against the president for “incitement to insurrection.” “He’s in self-pity mode,” the source told the broadcaster. On the other hand, the view among a number of those who are close to the US president is that “his actions led to here, no one else,” the source explained. “He instigated a mob to charge on the Capitol building to stop decertification, he’s not going to find a lot of sympathetic Republicans.” The White House did not immediately respond to The Independent’s request for comment on the claims. The siege on the Capitol...
Abuja chamber welcomes FCT tax harmonisation
Abuja Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI) has welcomed the plan by the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Alhaji Muhammad Bello to harmonise tax policies within the territory in order end multiple taxations on by businesses in the territory. The President of ACCI, Alhaji Abubakar, in a statement yesterday, commended the minister for acknowledging the challenges faced by businesses within the territory due to series of levies, charges and taxes from Federal, FCTA and Area Councils. “Multiple taxations within the FCT and the larger national economy has imposed crippling consequences on businesses. “The fallout has been many failed businesses, the rising level of inflation, the non-thriving of existing ones and the lack of capacity to engage many unemployed youths. “We want ...
Manchester City’s Eric Garcia agrees five-and-a-half year deal at Barcelona
Manchester City defender Eric Garcia has agreed a five-and-a-half year deal with Barcelona with the clubs closing in on a cut-price agreement, report El Mundo Deportivo. It is claimed that there is a deal which will see the Blaugrana pay €5m – in a transaction that will go through next season – alongside a further €5m in variables for the player, who is out of contract this summer. Back in August, City boss Pep Guardiola confirmed the player would not renew his deal at the English club and the defender is now taking centre stage of Barcelona transfer news this calendar year. The central defender has been a Cule all his life but joined City in 2017 from the Catalan giants, with previous multiple reports claiming they have been eyeing a return for the past year. Reports have drawn parallels ...
Normalcy returns to Kwara community after security operatives, drivers clash
Normalcy returned to Ilesha-Baruba community in the Baruten Local Government Area of Kwara on Monday after a Friday clash between security operatives and commercial vehicles drivers. The clash between the security operatives and drivers in the area left at least three persons dead and several people injured from gunshots. Newsmen report that the clash occurred on Friday during a misunderstanding over “bookings’’ between the operatives mounting roadblocks on the Ilesha-Baruba/Chikanda highway and commercial drivers plying the route. The corpses of the deceased, which had earlier been deposited at a morgue in Saki, Oyo State, were brought into Ilesha-Baruba on Sunday night for burial. Newsmen who went round the community reports that the residents have returned to their normal businesses. Ma...
Taraba: Striking resident doctors demand beyond hazard allowance
iStock As resident doctors strike in Taraba state enters week three, the state government, Tuesday said the demands of the aggrieved doctors were beyond the payment of COVID-19 hazard and inducement allowance. The state commissioner for health, Dr Innocent Vakkai speaking at a press parley, also disclosed that a committee has been constituted to compile the total cost of the COVID-19 hazard allowances due for health workers. He listed the demands of the striking doctors to include, “increase in doctors wages, training, and retraining of doctors on residency programs, improved working conditions and for the state to commence training of horsemanship officers. On the payment of the COVID-19 hazard allowance to health workers, Vakkai said the compilation of the total cost has reached the last...
Minister: Tests on NYSC members confirm coronavirus is everywhere in Nigeria
The Federal Government says it has further confirmed from results of tests conducted on prospective National Youth Service Corps members confirmed that no part of the country was free of COVID-19. The Minister of State for Health, Sen. Olorunnimbe Mamora, made the disclosure on Monday in Abuja at a briefing by the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19. “We safely and comfortably drew this conclusion because corps members are mobilised from all the states of the country for each of the orientation camps,”the Minister said while warning that increasing cases of COVID-19 are imposing enormous burden on the nation’s health facilities. He said that the 18,699 active COVID-19 cases were stretching health facilities. “With the increased number of confirmed cases, the number of active cases ha...
Telegraph: Britain to tighten laws on imports linked to alleged Chinese human rights abuses
Britain will tighten the law on importing goods linked to alleged human rights abuses in China as ministers take a tougher stance on Beijing, The Telegraph reported on Monday. Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab will make a statement on Tuesday in the House of Commons on the government’s response to allegations of forced labour in China’s Xinjiang province, home to about 12 million Uighur Muslims, the report bit.ly/2LKt2Fe added. Among the measures expected to be unveiled by the government include expansion of the Modern Slavery Act, reacting to concerns that items manufactured under duress by the Uighur Muslim minority may be entering the UK, the Telegraph reported. Britain said last year there was credible, growing and troubling evidence of forced labour among Uighur Muslims. China has come u...
2021: Banks to walk a tightrope amid low revenue environment
Nigeria’s deposit money banks (DMBs) must brace up for the challenge of 2021 that might tax their resolve to remain in business. Reason: the industry is faced with a tougher operating environment that could threaten the operators’ ability to meet their stakeholders’ needs and expectations yet perform meaningful corporate social responsibility roles. Their valuable customers such as high net-worth individuals, corporate bodies and other institutions are equally challenged. In his book, Business Stripped Bare, celebrated iconic entrepreneur and founder of the Virgin Group, Richard Branson, says, “without trustworthy banks, there can be no business, no employment, no money. According to Branson, “People have got to be able to go to bed at night secure in the knowledge that the money they depo...
Ekiti imposes curfew, bans public gathering of more than twenty
In a bid time curtail the spread of the second wave of Covid-19 in Ekiti, the state Government on Sunday imposed a curfew from 8.00 pm to 6.00 am. The Government also banned all gatherings of more than twenty people in the state until further notice. The Commissioner for Information and Values Orientation, Hon Akinbowale Omole, who announced these new guidelines in Ado-Ekiti on Sunday, said the restrictions take effect Monday at 6 am January 11, 2021. Omole cited the alarming rate at which the deadly pandemic is spreading in Nigeria and elsewhere as the reason for these drastic steps. He said there is a need for the government to be proactive and take decisive steps to secure the citizens from falling prey to the second wave of the pandemic that has claimed thousands of lives all over the ...
Coronavirus: Prof. Maurice Iwu restates efficacy of herbal medicine
Bioresources Development Group (BDG) chairman, Prof. Maurice Iwu has restated the efficacy of herbal medicine in the treatment of the COVID-19 cases as the virus enters variant stage globally. The former chairman of Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and eminent Professor of Pharmacognosy, Iwu, in a chat with Vanguard said that the effectiveness of special herbal drugs produced in the country, stands the chance of combating the disease at an early stage, but noted that the slow pace in acceptance and approval hinders its feasibility. Iwu also pointed that herbal extracts from a plant, “Andrographis Paniculata”, commonly known as green chiretta, already approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of Thailand is on its way to serve as an alternative treatment to the seve...
Kaduna debunks rumour of helicopter supplying arms to criminals
The Kaduna State Government on Friday described as false, the news in circulation that helicopters supplied gunmen with arms at Ungwan Dankali and Tsallaken Dogo in Zaria Council Wednesday. The State’s Commissioner for Internal Security and Home Affairs, Samuel Aruwan, said the security stakeholders in the state conducted checks and discovered that the report was fake. While urging residents of Kaduna to always provide useful information to fight banditry, cattle rustling and kidnapping, Aruwan in a statement also assured the residents that the state government, together with security operatives are working round the clock to maintain peace security in the state. According to Aruwan, “the attention of the Kaduna State government has been drawn to a story that is being circulated by certain...
