INEC To Suspend Online Voters Registration

By

-

May 11, 2022

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) said it will suspend the registration of Continuous Voters Registration (CVR) online pre-registration nationwide on May 30 2022.

INEC chairman, Mahmood Yakubu, on Wednesday said the online pre-registration and physical registration will continue until the CVR exercise is suspended on June 30, 2022.

He said this would give time to those who registered online to complete their registration physically and would enable the commission to clean up the registration data.

“As you are aware, the ongoing Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise ends next month i.e. 30th June 2022. Both the online pre-registration as well as the physical registration at designated centres are taking place simultaneously,” Yakubu said.

“However, online pre-registrants would require time to schedule appointments to complete their registration physically at designated centers. For this reason, the commission has decided to suspend the online registration in the next three weeks, that is, May 30, 2022.

“This will enable the online registrants to complete their registration physically at the designated centres before the exercise is suspended on June 30, 2022. This will enable the commission to clean up the registration data, print the permanent voters’ cards (PVCs) and compile the register ahead of the 2023 general election.”

INEC opened the registration portal in January 2022. The online pre-registration can be accessed on INEC portal.

150MW Wind Farm Planned For 3rd-Largest Island In Hong Kong

By

Angel Gimalo

-

May 11, 2022

0

Hong Kong-based investment firm HK Electric has announced plans to develop an offshore wind farm southwest of Lamma Island, the third largest island in Hong Kong.

Environmental permits for the proposed project have now been approved by the Environmental Protection Department, with the tendering expected to start in 2024 for scheduled commissioning in 2027.

According to HK Electric, the proposed 150MW wind farm will cover an area of about 600 hectares, will be located four kilometres away from Lamma Power Station and will include between 13 and 19 wind turbines of eight to 12MW.

Data collected by HK Electric suggests the site has sufficient wind resources with an average wind speed of about 7.1 metres per second.

Wan stated that the wind farm will produce about 400 million units of clean electricity annually, saving around 284,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions per year.

He suggested in the statement that the project will significantly boost the portion of renewable energy in Hong Kong and develop competencies and experience for the development of future projects.

Nigeria Set To Become Destination For Medical Tourists

By

faith Jegede

-

May 11, 2022

0

The Nigerian government has said the country is on the way to becoming a destination for medical tourists.

The Information and Culture Minister, Alhaji Lai Mohammed disclosed this when he embarked on a guided tour of the Duchess International Hospital facility located in Ikeja, Lagos, southwest Nigeria.

The Duchess International Hospital (Duchess), a subsidiary of the Reddington Group commissioned its 72-bed multi-specialist healthcare facility, located on the corner of Harold Shodipo Crescent and Joel Ogunnaike Street in Ikeja GRA.

Construction of the Duchess facility commenced in 2016, and the project was completed in 2020, even though aesthetic works were still ongoing for some time after.

The Minister said the services coming from the facility will cut down the 500 billion naira Nigerians spend on medical tourism annually, a move that will conserve foreign reserves and increase foreign exchange.

The philosophy of the Duchess International hospital is to bring world-class health care at an affordable rate while still maintaining the elitist standard.

According to him, by so doing, the medical tourism trend will reduce in Nigeria.

Presently Medical tourists from many Sub-Saharan parts of Africa have been trooping to the facility to access medical care.

“This purpose-built, state-of-the-art, 100-bed hospital, which is aimed at delivering the highest standard of healthcare, using the most advanced technology and treatments to provide Nigerians with the best medical expertise available anywhere in the world.”

Summit Of The Americas: Bolivia’s President Arce Unsure Of Attendance

By

Angel Gimalo

-

May 11, 2022

0

Bolivia’s President Luis Arce says he may not go to the Summit of the Americas if some countries from the region are not invited, joining Mexico’s leader in objecting to suggestions that Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua might be excluded from the June meeting in Los Angeles.

Arce made the statement in a tweet late Tuesday following a similar warning earlier in the day from Mexico’s Andrés Manuel López Obrador.

Two Caribbean leaders have also protested against calls to exclude the three leftist governments that are under U.S. sanctions.

López Obrador had warned that “if there’s exclusion, if not everyone is invited, there will be representatives from the Mexican government but I would not attend.”

Arce’s statement followed a meeting last week between the Bolivian and Venezuelan foreign ministers.

U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Brian Nichols recently said the U.S. was unlikely to invite the governments of Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua because they do not respect democracy.

The U.S. has imposed sanctions on all three countries and does not even recognize Venezuela’s Nicolas Maduro as the country’s legal leader.

However, the White House press secretary, Jen Psaki, said Tuesday that “a final decision has not been made yet” on who will be invited.

Cube was excluded from the first six hemispheric summits, but then-President Raul Castro attended the 2015 meeting in Panama, where he met U.S. President Barack Obama at a moment of improving ties between the two countries.

Nigerian Government Reiterates Commitment To End Medical Tourism

By

Olasunbo Okoromi

-

May 11, 2022

0

The Nigerian Government says with the coming up of affordable world class health facilities, Nigeria will soon put an end to the over N500 billion being spent on medical tourism annually and brain drain in the country.

The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed said during a media tour of Duchess International Hospital.

He said the country would soon welcome foreign patients and medical personnel on its shores rather than having its citizens travel yearly and spending more than N500bn for medical tourism.

Mohammed noted that although the facility was private-sector driven, the Federal Government provided the enabling environment and funding for its realisation.

He said the intervention fund was to provide credit support for the healthcare sector through long-term, low-cost financing.

The Chief Executive Officer of the hospital, Dr. Tokunbo Shitta-bey, said the facility was aimed at delivering the highest standard of healthcare to Nigerians.

He said the hospital would use the most advanced technology, personnel and treatments to provide Nigerians with the best medical expertise available anywhere in the world.

Shitta-bey added that the guiding philosophy of the health facility was to cut down medical tourism in an affordable manner with the same equipment and personnel found in the most advanced parts of the world.

According to him, the facility is available for community service, for patients in all strata of the society, offering a wide range of specialised services and treatment.

Ukraine Cuts Russia Gas Through One Of Hubs

By

Angel Gimalo

-

May 11, 2022

0

Ukraine stopped the flow of Russian natural gas Wednesday through one of the hubs that feed Western European homes and industry, while a Kremlin-installed official in a southern region seized by Russian troops said the area would ask Moscow to annex it.

The talk of annexation in Kherson — and Russia’s apparent willingness to consider such a request — raised the possibility that the Kremlin will seek to break off another piece of Ukraine as it tries to salvage an invasion gone awry. Russia annexed Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula in 2014.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that it would be “up to the residents of the Kherson region” to make such a request, and that any move to annex territory would have to be closely evaluated by experts to make sure its legal basis is “absolutely clear.”

Russia has repeatedly used annexation or recognition of breakaway republics as tactics in recent years to gain pieces of fellow former Soviet republics Ukraine and Georgia.

Russia annexed Crimea in 2014 after holding a referendum on the peninsula over whether it wanted to become part of Russia.

Face Masks To Be Scrapped On Flights In Europe, Starting Next Week

By

Angel Gimalo

-

May 11, 2022

0

The European Union will no longer require masks to be worn at airports and on planes starting next week, amid the easing of coronavirus restrictions across the bloc, authorities said on Wednesday.

The European Union Aviation Safety Agency said it hoped the joint decision, made with the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, would mark “a big step forward in the normalisation of air travel” for passengers and crews.

While the new recommendations take effect on 16 May, rules for masks may still vary by airline beyond that date if they fly to or from destinations where the rules are different.

18 Political Parties Seek Extension Of Deadline For Primaries, INEC Rejects Plea, Insists On June 3

By

Koko Lawrence

-

May 11, 2022

0

The 18 registered political parties, under the aegis of Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC), have appealed to Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to extend deadline for conduct of primary elections.

But INEC insisted that the June 3 target for parties to conduct primaries and pick candidates for the 2023 elections stands.

IPAC National Chairman, Yabagi Sani, who made the appeal in Abuja, yesterday, during an interactive session between political parties and INEC, urged the commission to shift the deadline by 37 days.

Stating reasons, Sani said the Sallah holiday, forthcoming Ekiti and Osun States governorship elections and screening of an unprecedented large number of aspirants were issues that could hamper timely and strict compliance with the timetable.

He maintained that the time allotted by INEC for the conduct of primaries was too short, in view of efforts required by political parties for scrupulous screening and selection of quality flag bearers.

Noting that request for slight modifications in INEC’s schedule of activities is not without precedence, Sani said some of the constraining developments were not considered and factored by INEC while it drew its schedule of activities.

Earlier, INEC chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, reminded political parties of the necessity for strict compliance with timelines for party primaries.

According to him, there are many inter-related activities that are associated with the timelines, which must be carried out.

He added that any extension would affect other activities and put unnecessary pressure on political parties and the commission.

“This will ultimately result in more complications than what the extension seeks to achieve. Therefore, the commission will not review the timelines. Working together, we should ensure fidelity to the timelines in conducting transparent and democratic primaries for the purpose of electing candidates for the 1,491 constituencies for which elections will be held on February 25 and March 11, 2023.”

He urged parties to promote inclusivity in the electoral process by encouraging greater involvement of all under-represented segments of the society as candidates for elections.

Mexico President Threatens To Skip Americas Summit

By

Zoe Maven

-

May 11, 2022

0

Mexico’s president says he would not attend next month’s Summit of the Americas in Los Angeles if the Biden administration excludes Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua.

President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has been saying in recent weeks that the U.S. government should not exclude anyone from the summit, but he had not previously threatened to stay home.

The Mexican president’s absence would be a blow to the summit expected to deal heavily with the issue of migration at the U.S.-Mexico border.

The Biden administration has worked for months to build regional consensus. Cabinet members have been visiting the region urging allies to shore up immigration controls and expand their asylum programs.

Such cooperation will be critical as the U.S. wrestles with the problem of high numbers of migrants arriving at its southern border and prepares to lift a restriction of asylum applications there later this month that is expected to draw even more migrants north.

U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Brian Nichols has previously said that the governments of Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua have shown that they do not respect democracy and would be unlikely to receive invitations. And the U.S. does not even recognize Venezuela’s Nicolas Maduro as the country’s legal leader.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki was noncommittal when asked about the invitations on Tuesday, saying “a final decision has not been made.”

Leaders of Caribbean nations have also discussed a collective boycott of the summit if nations are excluded and criticized the U.S. plan to invite Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaidó.

The U.S. recognizes him as that country’s legitimate president, but many Caribbean nations do not.

At Least 14 Dead In East Congo Refugee Camp Attack

By

Zoe Maven

-

May 11, 2022

0

At least 14 people were killed in an overnight attack on a displaced persons camp in east Democratic Republic of Congo’s Ituri province, the latest violence in an area overrun by militants.

Army spokesman Jules Ngongo Tsikudi said Rebels raided a site outside the eastern town of Fataki where hundreds of civilians have sought refuge in recent months, killing 14 people including children.

Civil society leader Dieudonne Lossa gave a provisional death toll of 15 and blamed a militant group known as CODECO, accused of staging another attack on a nearby artisanal mining site on Sunday that killed at least 35.

The group is one of several armed militias, including an Islamic State affiliate, wrangling over land and resources in Congo’s mineral-rich east – a conflict that has claimed thousands of lives and displaced millions over the past decade.

Congo’s government declared martial law in Ituri and neighboring North Kivu province a year ago in an effort to quell the violence. But deadly raids have surged since then.

CODECO is renowned for targeting civilians, killing 18 people at a church last month and another 60 at a displaced persons camp in February.