The Alumni of the Ahmadu Bello University, ABU Zaria, has unveiled a Forum known as FCT ABU U93PS/IS Forum which would among other objectives foster social welfare needs of members, and as catalyst for contributing to good governance and development in Nigeria.
The forum is directly unveiled by the graduating class of the Department of Political Science 1998/99 Academic Session.
Also, the Forum advocates for regular awareness on health issues creating platform for checking health vitals as well as engaging in regular physical exercises.
The Abuja Forum, which comprises of the Alumni from the Political Science and International Studies branches of the Department was officially inaugurated on Tuesday, at a reunion meeting held in Abuja, with about 15 members of the class in attendance during the inauguration.
One of the Conveners of the meeting, Olayemi Salako enjoined members to embrace social networking for capacity building and self development.
However, during the inauguration of the Group’s pioneer Executives, two officials of the Federal Capital Territory Administration, Fatai A. Bello, Chief Administrative Officer with the Department of Reform Coordination & Service Improvement, and Kenechukwu Ike, Assistant Director with the Health & Human Services Secretariat emerged as Chairman and Public Relations Officer.
Other members of the Exco include: Lawrence Odidi of the National Primary Healthcare Development Agency as Secretary; Dr. Bala Mohammed of the ICPC as Treasurer and Toyin Sulyman-Peters of National Assembly as Welfare Secretary.
In his acceptance speech on behalf of the Executive members, Bello thanked his colleagues for the confidence reposed in the pioneer Executive and promised to work to achieve the objectives of the Forum.
He called on members to massively embark on mobilisation of other members of the class residents in Abuja to join hands with the Officials towards the overall goals of the newly inaugurated FCT ABU U93PS/IS Forum.
1496 Leonardo da Vinci unsuccessfully tests a flying machine
1521 Martin Luther is Excommunicated by Pope Leo X from the Roman Catholic Church for failing to recant parts of his Ninety-five Theses which started the Protestant Reformation
1777 General George Washington’s revolutionary army defeats British forces at Battle of Princeton, New Jersey
1925 Benito Mussolini dissolves the Italian parliament and proclaims himself dictator of Italy, taking the title “Il Duce” (the Leader)
1977 Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs incorporate Apple Computer, Inc
1985 Israel government confirms resettlement of 10,000 Ethiopian Jews
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1987 Aretha Franklin is the first female artist to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
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1929 Australian cricket icon Don Bradman follows up a 1st innings of 79 to score 112 in 3rd Test v England in Melbourne; his 1st of 29 Test centuries
2018 Previously unknown ancient Beringians group of people unearthed in Alaska, earliest known Native Americans at 11,500 years old
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“Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Larry Fink agreed to focus in the near term on coordinating the efforts of all potential investors and participants in the reconstruction of our country, channelling investment into the most relevant and impactful sectors of the Ukrainian economy,” the post said.
On Wednesday it was revealed that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s government is prepping to participate in January’s World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, and that the Ukrainian leader is in talks with BlackRock CEO Larry Fink regarding rebuilding efforts following the war with Russia.
According to Bloomberg, Zelensky said in an evening address to the nation, “Specialists of this company are already helping Ukraine to structure the fund for the reconstruction of our state.”
Zelensky reportedly had a video call with Fink in September. He did not reveal whether he would be attending the WEF in person or virtually.
According to a Wednesday post on the Ukrainian President’s official website, Zelensky said, “In accordance with the preliminary agreements struck earlier this year between the Head of State and Larry Fink, the BlackRock team has been working for several months on a project to advise the Ukrainian government on how to structure the country’s reconstruction funds.”
“Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Larry Fink agreed to focus in the near term on coordinating the efforts of all potential investors and participants in the reconstruction of our country, channeling investment into the most relevant and impactful sectors of the Ukrainian economy,” the post added.
“During the conversation, it was emphasized that certain BlackRock leaders plan to visit Ukraine in the new year,” the post continued. “The President thanked Larry Fink for the work of the professional team that BlackRock has allocated to advise on structuring the reconstruction projects.”
Egyptian sarcophagus that was on display at a US museum has been returned to Egypt.
The sarcophagus was repatriated after an investigation that lasted several years and was formally handed over by US diplomats at a ceremony in Cairo on Monday. The event was attended by Egypt’s Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry and Tourism and Antiquities Minister Ahmed Issa.
The 2.9m long “Green Coffin” dates back to the Late Dynastic Period, which spanned 664BC to 332BC, and belonged to a priest called Ankhenmaat.
It was looted from the Abu Sir necropolis in north Egypt by a global art trafficking network, which smuggled it through Germany into the US in 2008.
A collector loaned it to the Houston Museum of Natural Science in 2013.
While, Secretary-General of the Egyptian Supreme Council of Antiquities Mostafa Waziri was inspecting the artifact, US chargé d’affaires in Egypt, Daniel Rubinstein said, “Today’s ceremony is emblematic of the long history of co-operation between the United States and Egypt on antiquities protection and cultural heritage preservation.
Mr Issa said the return of the sarcophagus showed Egypt’s strenuous efforts to recover smuggled artefacts.
In September, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said the Green Coffin, which was valued at over $1m (£830,000), was illegally trafficked out of Egypt by a multinational network of antiquities smugglers.
The network was also responsible for trafficking the “Gold Coffin”, which was which was returned to Egypt in 2019, the Stele of Pa-di-Sena, which is also from the Late Dynastic Period and was handed over in 2020, and five pieces seized from New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art last year.
The US is not the only country to have returned antiquities to Egypt recently. In 2021, Israel handed over 95 relics which had been smuggled into the country or found for sale in Jerusalem.
Last month, a university in the Republic of Ireland said it was planning to repatriate a sarcophagus, mummified human remains and canopic jars.
The EU says it will launch proceedings to remove parliamentary immunity from two MEPs implicated in an ongoing corruption scandal.
This is according to Parliamentary President Roberta Metsola who said she had taken the move after a request from Belgian police, although her statement did not name the MEPs involved.
The scandal erupted last month after one MEP and three others were arrested on charges of corruption and money-laundering. While authorities have not named the country behind the bribery network, numerous EU sources have accused Qatar of running the operation.
But the Gulf state has strenuously denied any claims of misconduct as unfair and “gravely misinformed”.
Ms Metsola – who has previously said the scandal showed that “open, free, democratic societies are under attack” – said she would now launch an “urgent procedure” to remove parliamentary immunity from the two MEPs following the police request.
The request must now be filed before the entire EU parliament on 16 January, before advancing to the body’s legal affairs committee. A report on the allegations will then be prepared, before a vote in the full chamber on removing the MEPs’ immunity.
All MEPs hold some limited immunity which means they can carry out their jobs, express their opinions and vote freely without living in fear of arrest or political persecution.
But the chamber can vote to strip them of that immunity after confidential proceedings. The process allows accused MEPs to present evidence and defend themselves.
European Parliament spokeswoman Yasmina Yakimova said last week that the purpose of immunity was to ensure “that parliament can function” but emphasised that it was “not something that allows them to break the law more easily”.
Police in Queensland, Australia say Four people have died after a mid-air collision between two helicopters near Sea World on Australia’s Gold Coast.
Initial investigations suggest the crash happened as one aircraft was taking off and the other was landing.
According to a foreign office spokesman, those who died were travelling in the same helicopter while three other passengers are in a critical condition. Two UK citizens were among those killed in the crash.
They added that officials were supporting the families of the two victims – who have not been named – and would remain “in contact with the local authorities”.
Five of the six people on the other aircraft, which made an emergency landing, suffered minor injuries.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the country had been left shocked by the “terrible and tragic incident”.
The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) is investigating the collision, which happened at about 14:00 local time (04:00 GMT).
The two aircraft came down near a tourist strip known as Main Beach, about 75km south of Brisbane.
Gary Worrell of the Queensland Police Service said: “It’s a difficult scene, Due to the area it’s located, on the sand bank, it was difficult to gain access, to get emergency services to the scene to manage it appropriately.”
Worrell said members of the public and police had tried to remove passengers from the aircraft and performed first aid on the injured.
The other helicopter has the popular marine park’s logo on its fuselage and appears to have made an emergency landing after the collision.
According to the Sea World website the park offers sightseeing helicopter flights for tourists, as well as carrying out other charter operations.
The resort’s owner, Village Roadshow Theme Parks, offered its condolences to all those impacted and said Sea World Helicopters is an independent operator.
Hundreds of Senegalese civilians have demonstrated in Dakar by banging pots and pans during president Macky Sall’s end of year speech.
The crowd gathered at the Place de la Nation in Dakar, under the call of a dozen civil society organisations, shouting “thieves” and “You will not digest our billions!
A large police force was deployed around the square to supervise the rally, which was authorised by the prefect and supported by the opposition, which has repeatedly denounced the authorities’ “theft” in recent days.
Both the demonstration and Friday’s protest were to demand legal action after a report on the management of anti-Covid funds was found to contain numerous irregularities.
The opposition has repeatedly denounced the authorities’ “theft” after an audit by the court of auditors pointed shortcomings, overbilling, and lack of evidence of expenditure.
The slogan “No to the third term” appeared on several placards, because of the doubt that persists on the decision of President Macky Sall, elected in 2012 for seven years and re-elected in 2019 for five years, to run again for president in 2024.
Civil society is demanding the resignation of all those implicated and the reimbursement of the alleged misappropriations.
In mid-December, an audit by the Court of Auditors of Senegal on the “Response Fund against the effects of Covid-19” amounting to more than 740 billion CFA francs or over 1.1 billion euros), financed by donors and the state in 2020 and 2021, pointed to “shortcomings”, “overbilling” or “lack of evidence” of expenditure.
The government has defended itself by stressing that the reported shortcomings concern less than one percent of the total amount of the fund and has promised to follow the recommendations of the Court of Auditors.
The European Union has called on Rwanda to stop supporting the M23 rebel group, which has captured swaths of territory in North Kivu province in neighbouring (DRC).
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell on Saturday said the European bloc had urged Rwanda to “stop supporting the M23 and use all means to press the M23 to comply with the decisions taken by the East African Community”
Borrell’s comments come after a United Nations experts’ report on DRC indicated it had collected proof of “direct intervention” by Rwandan defence forces inside DRC territory between November 2021 and October 2022.
The DRC – along with the United States and several European countries – has repeatedly accused its Central African neighbour Rwanda of backing the M23, although Kigali denies the charge.
In a statement on Saturday, Kinshasa welcomed the findings of the UN experts but called for the UN Security Council to examine the experts’ report with a view to possible sanctions against Rwanda.
Meanwhile, Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame blamed Kinshasa for the chaos in its volatile eastern regions in his New Year address.
In a statement, Kagae said after spending tens of billions of dollars on peacekeeping over the past two decades, the security situation in Eastern Congo was worse than ever.
He said, “To explain this failure, some in the international community blame Rwanda, even though they know very well that the true responsibility lies primarily with the government of the DRC.
He added that it was high time that the unwarranted vilification of Rwanda came to an end.
Democratic Forces (ADF) rebel group, which is Islamist in its ideology and operates in both DR Congo and Uganda, had been holding the civilians. Some of the former hostages, which included women and children, were abducted from different villages in different locations.
Describing her escape from the rebel group, one of the victims, Kathungu Syaseya, said the soldiers arrived while they were in the middle of praying. She said the soldiers were firing several bullets, which allowed them to flee.
After the destruction of their camps, the ADF rebels dispersed even further into areas not covered by the coalition forces, allowing them to attempt to re-group.
Civil society organisations are calling on the government in Kinshasa to review the convention with Uganda in order to widen the area of intervention of the FARDC-UPDF joint operations.
Noëlla Katongerwaki of the Collective of Women’s Action for the Vulnerable, called for the rebels to be prosecuted and prevented from massacring people and for these offensives to pursue the enemy wherever they hide.
She also called for these operations to be carried out even on the other side of the main road, national road number 4.
The ADF began its insurgencies by first attacking the Ugandan government in 1995. It then began to fight in DR Congo. It’s believed to have killed around 700 civilians and has also fought with UN peacekeeping soldiers.
Pele will be taken to the Vila Belmiro Stadium in Santos for a 24-hour wake
He will then be taken through the streets to stop outside his mother’s home
Pele will finally be laid to rest in private at the Memorial Necrópole Ecumênica
Pele will be buried in a 14 storey cemetery in the centre of Santos on Tuesday following three days of official mourning.
The three-time World Cup champion, who died yesterday, will be taken from the Albert Einstein Hospital in Sao Paolo on Monday to the Vila Belmiro Stadium where members of the public will be able to pay their final respects.
His body will remain on the center circe for 24 hours before he is taken through the streets of his home city to stop briefly outside the home of his 100-year-old mother, Celeste, who is bed-bound, according to local media.
He will then be taken to the Memorial Necrópole Ecumênica, which was dubbed ‘A Tomb With A View’ in a 2014 short film on the cemetery, claimed to be the world’s tallest.
Football legend Pele, pictured in New York in 1975, will be laid to rest in a massive multi-story cemetery in Santos on Tuesday
He will be laid to rest at the 14-storey Memorial Necrópole Ecumênica cemetery in Santos, pictured
Edson Asante’s Do Nascimento died on Thursday following a long battle against cancer. The legend, better known as Pele, was 82.
The vertical cemetery was built in 1983 and has more than 14,000 vaults. It has a tropical garden, restaurant and even a classic car museum.
Pele won the World Cup in 1958, 1962 and 1970.
His funeral has been delayed to allow the transition of power from outgoing Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro and the inauguration of President-elect Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Monday morning.
Across Brazil, there has been widespread grief with monuments lit upin the nation’s flag to celebrate the footballing legend
A 24-hour public wake will be held at the Vila Belmiro stadium, home of Santos, where Pele played much of his career
Outside Santos City Hall, floral tributes spelling out their most famous son have been left by mourners
Brazilians are beginning three days of official mourning for the three-time World Cup winner
This weekend’s New Year fixtures in the Premier League will pay tribute to the legendary player.
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola believes Pele’s influence in the world game will be everlasting.
Three-times World Cup winner Pele, widely regarded as the greatest player of all time, died in Sao Paulo on Thursday at the age of 82 after a lengthy battle with colon cancer.
The Brazilian’s death has sparked a huge outpouring of affection and respect from around the globe.
Guardiola said: ‘On behalf of Manchester City, the biggest condolences for his family and friends. Football is football thanks to these types of people.
‘Neymar said a great sentence when he said before (Pele) number 10 was just a number and after it became something special.
‘Every top player wanted to wear number 10 in their team. What he has done for football is there and always will remain.
Members of the public will be able to get 24 hours to pay tribute to Pele as his coffin lies on the centre circle of the pitch where he played the majority of his career
Monuments across the globe have been lit up in memory of Pele, including the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro
‘It’s like a good movie, the legacy after many years. That we are still talking about him like a good movie or a good book is because he was so good.
‘I think Pele, (Diego) Maradona, (Johan) Cruyff, (Lionel) Messi, (Franz) Beckenbauer, Cristiano Ronaldo – these type of players will be forever, they will be eternal.
‘They have done many things in many years on the pitch and off it and with their teams and countries.
‘These type of players make our business, our work, our job, however you want to say it, a better place because what he produced, what we have seen in the World Cup, what one team can produce can change 48 million people, the country. It’s unbelievable.’
Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta said the Brazilian players in his Gunners side, which include Gabriel Magalhaes, vice-captain Gabriel Jesus, Gabriel Martinelli and Marquinhos, have been mourning the death of their compatriot.
He said: ‘We did talk about (his legacy) the other day and obviously they are very emotional because he’s one of the most popular figures in Brazil, and it’s a big loss.
‘Obviously everything that I’ve seen of him and hear of him has been through videos and people who knew him personally, and a lot of relationships I’ve had always in football, but someone that probably changed the dimension of a single player in world football, because he could do a bit of everything.
‘He was probably the most complete player that the game has ever seen, and it is a big loss. We had two big losses with him and Maradona in the last (two years).’
Frank Lampard, the former England and Chelsea midfielder who is now manager of Everton, recognises the enormous impact Pele had in the game.
Lampard, 44, said: ‘There’s huge respect for him as a player and as a person, as all the responses since yesterday have shown. He was a great man as well as a great player.
‘He was one of the greatest without doubt, so a sad day for football.
‘The reach of his name in the game was obviously huge. It just gets bigger with age. We have lost him unfortunately but his name will continue for evermore because of his impact on the game.’
The Premier League and EFL have said as a mark of respect, all games this weekend will see players wear black armbands with a minute’s applause prior to kick-off.
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