Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has traveled to the United Arab Emirates on a state visit amid his country’s ongoing war against Tigray rebels.
Ahmed arrived Saturday and was greeted planeside by Abu Dhabi’s powerful crown prince, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. They later attended an honor guard ceremony and held meetings, according to the Emirates’ state-run WAM news agency.
The Tigray war has been raging since November 2020 but has shifted in recent weeks, with the Tigray forces retreating into their region after attempting to advance on the capital, Addis Ababa.
Ethiopia’s military said it would not pursue them further. That opened the way for fresh mediation efforts by the United States and the African Union, with humanitarian access a key goal.
Ethiopia’s government has sought to restrict reporting on the war and detained some journalists under the state of emergency, including a video freelancer accredited to The Associated Press, Amir Aman Kiyaro.
Experts and Analysts say the Ethiopian government’s military appears to have been strengthened by aerial drones purchased from China, Turkey and the UAE.
A leading rights group on Monday urged the European Union to reverse its migration policy on Libya, saying the approach helps return migrants to “hellish” conditions in the North African country.
In a statement, Amnesty International said over 82,000 migrants were intercepted and returned to Libya in the past five years since the EU began its cooperation with Libyan authorities to block migrants from reaching European shores.
Many of those who have been returned to Libya are held in government-run detention centers where they reportedly suffer from abuse, including torture, rape and extortion.
Libya plunged into turmoil following the NATO-backed 2011 uprising that toppled and killed longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi.
The North African nation has since emerged as a popular, if extremely dangerous, route toward Europe for those fleeing poverty and conflict in Africa and the Middle East.
Human traffickers have benefited from the chaos in the oil-rich nation, smuggling migrants through the country’s lengthy border with six nations. They pack desperate migrants into ill-equipped rubber boats, then embark on risky voyages across the Mediterranean Sea.
In recent years, the EU accelerated efforts to stem the flow of migrants through Libya. Some 455 million euros have been earmarked for Libya since 2015 through the EU’s Trust Fund for Africa, substantial amounts of which have gone to finance migration and border management.
The EU money, much of it funneled through Italy, has been used to train staff and refurbish boats for Libyan authorities. The Libyan coast guard also received satellite phones and uniforms and will get three new patrol vessels in the next two years.
North Korea confirmed Monday it test-launched an intermediate-range ballistic missile capable of reaching the U.S. territory of Guam, the North’s most significant weapon launch in years.
Sunday’s launch could be a prelude to bigger provocations by North Korea such as nuclear and long-range missile tests that pose a direct threat to the U.S. mainland.
This is coming as the North tries to further pressure the Biden administration to win sanction relief or international recognition as a legitimate nuclear state.
The official Korean Central News Agency said the purpose of the test was verifying the overall accuracy of the Hwasong-12 missile that is being deployed in its military.
KCNA published two sets of combination photos — one showing the missile rising from a launcher and soaring into space and the other showing North Korea and nearby areas that it said were photographed from space by a camera installed at the missile’s warhead.
Lee Choon Geun, a missile expert and honorary research fellow at South Korea’s Science and Technology Policy Institute, said he thinks the photos were taken from space.
Athough he could not independently prove there was no adjustment on the images. While it’s rare to place a camera on a weapon, Lee said North Korea likely wanted to demonstrate its technological advancement to both foreign and domestic audiences.
North Korea said the missile was launched toward waters off its east coast on a high angle to prevent flying over other countries. It gave no further details.
The UK government will introduce new legislation allowing it to change or scrap retained European Union laws, Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said to mark two years since Brexit.
The new “Brexit Freedoms Bill”, which was announced on Monday, will make it easier to amend or remove what he called “outdated” EU laws that London has kept on its statute books as a “bridging measure” after leaving the bloc.
It will be part of what the UK leader dubbed a “major cross-government drive to reform, repeal and replace” the European laws retained and cut red tape for businesses.
“The plans we have set out today will further unleash the benefits of Brexit and ensure that businesses can spend more of their money investing, innovating and creating jobs,” Johnson said in a statement.
“Our new Brexit Freedoms Bill will end the special status of EU law in our legal framework and ensure that we can more easily amend or remove outdated EU law in future.”
Myanmar’s military junta has formally charged ousted civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi with the alleged crime of committing fraud in the November 2020 elections.
The special court, set up after the Feb.1, 2021 coup to hear cases of politicians and other civilian leaders in the military-ruled country, will begin the trial on Feb.14, according to sources.
The court in Zabuthiri in capital Naypyitaw expects to conclude the trial in six months, requesting anonymity due to the sensitive matter.
It is one among the slew of criminal cases against Suu Kyi by the military junta that completes a year in office on Tuesday.
The court has already pronounced four sentences entailing six years in prison against her but later reduced the term to two years after the military junta pardoned her.
Suu Kyi faces violating the Official Secrets Act charges, punishable by up to 14 years in prison and a handful of graft allegations, each punishable by a maximum of 15 years in prison.
Win Myint, the former president, and ex-cabinet member Min Thu are co-accused in the case of allegedly influencing Myanmar’s poll body to rig election results in favor of the then ruling National League for Democracy (NLD) party.
The coup and the mass detention of politicians and activists triggered unprecedented civilian protests across the country and the campaign for civil disobedience, led by government employees who refused to go to work.
The coup and the subsequent civilian uprising threw the Southeast Asian nation into political, social, and economic crises.
Myanmar security forces have responded brutally to peaceful street protests. They have allegedly killed at least 1,500 people since the shocking coup.
A Consultant Nephrologist at the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital, Borno State, Dr. Loskurima Umar says over 90 per cent of the causes of hypertension cases are not known.
Dr. Umar explained that hypertension can be classified into primary and secondary hypertension, noting that while primary hypertension does not have a known cause, secondary hypertension has specific causes and is a complication of another health problem.
He, however, stressed that primary hypertension is responsible for most hypertension cases.
“Primary hypertension is the most common form of hypertension and over 90 per cent of hypertension is known to be primary hypertension. Primary means that there is no cause for it. The remaining per cent, like less than five percent, is referred to as secondary hypertension.
“Primary means that there is no cause for it. Secondary hypertension has causes which include kidney diseases, thyroid diseases, and others,” Dr. Umar said on a programme tagged: ‘#TalkingHealthwithDrLaz’ aired on Africa Independent Television.
According to the World Health Organisation, hypertension or elevated blood pressure is a serious medical condition that significantly increases the risks of heart, brain, kidney, and other diseases.
Known as a silent killer, most people with hypertension are unaware of the problem because it may have no warning signs or symptoms.
“When symptoms do occur, they can include early morning headaches, nosebleeds, irregular heart rhythms, vision changes, and buzzing in the ears. Severe hypertension can cause fatigue, nausea, vomiting, confusion, anxiety, chest pain, and muscle tremors.
“The only way to detect hypertension is to have a health professional measure blood pressure. Having blood pressure measured is quick and painless. Although individuals can measure their own blood pressure using automated devices, an evaluation by a health professional is important for assessment of risk and associated conditions,” WHO said.
The global health body says the WHO African Region has the highest prevalence of hypertension (27 per cent) while the WHO Region of the Americas has the lowest prevalence of hypertension (18 per cent).
It noted that the number of adults with hypertension increased from 594 million in 1975 to 1.13 billion in 2015, with the increase seen largely in low- and middle-income countries. This increase is due mainly to a rise in hypertension risk factors in those populations.
Speaking further, Dr. Umar said age, family history, obesity or overweight, and sedentary lifestyles are risk factors for hypertension.
“Age is a risk factor for hypertension. We should understand that majority of hypertension does not have a known cause while secondary hypertension may have a known cause. But, some risk factors can be considered in hypertension which includes if one has a family history of hypertension -let’s say the father or mother, then when that particular person grows, there are chances that he or she will be hypertensive later in life.
“Obesity or overweight is a predisposing factor to hypertension. Consuming high calories can predispose one to hypertension. Sedentary lifestyles are a risk factor for hypertension.”
The physician said hypertension usually shows no symptoms, noting that symptoms mostly manifest after it has caused damage to an individual.
“So it’s very important to check your blood pressure regularly once or twice a year once you pass the age of 30.
“Primary hypertension does not have a cure. All we can do is manage it and that can be done if the person visits the hospital, and sees the doctor.
“Secondary hypertension means there is a particular cause for hypertension and once you treat that cause, the person will have a normal blood pressure but primary hypertension is the common type of hypertension, which does not have a particular cure.
“If you’re hypertensive, it is good for you to regularly visit the doctor. If hypertension is diagnosed and one is not following the rules that were stated, hypertension can cause damage to the important organs in the body,” Umar said.
The African Union (AU) has suspended Burkina Faso a week after a faction of the army announced the removal of President Roch Kabore, as envoys from West Africa and the United Nations head for talks with the coup leaders.
The AU’s 15-member Peace and Security Council on Monday said it had voted to suspend Burkina Faso’s participation “in all AU activities until the effective restoration of constitutional order in the country”.
Moussa Faki Mahamat, who chairs the AU’s Commission, had already condemned the coup shortly after it happened on January 23.
The AU’s move came three days after the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) regional bloc suspended Burkina Faso from its ranks and warned of possible sanctions pending the outcome of meetings with the coup makers, who have dissolved the government and parliament and suspended the constitution, pledging to re-establish “constitutional order” within a “reasonable time”.
An ECOWAS mission headed by Ghanaian Foreign Minister Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey was expected to arrive in Ouagadougou on Monday, together with the UN special representative for West Africa and the Sahel (UNOWAS), Mahamat Saleh Annadif.
“The joint delegation will have meetings with the military leaders as well as with the various Burkinabe actors,” UNOWAS said in a statement.
On Saturday, ECOWAS sent military chiefs to confer with coup leader Lieutenant-Colonel Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba.
The UN Security Council was due to meet in public on Monday, at the request of the United States, to discuss Russia’s troop build-up on the border with Ukraine.
This comes as international diplomacy aimed at easing tensions moves to the world body in New York.
The United States describes the meeting of the 15-member body as a chance for Russia to explain itself, while Russia signaled it could try and block it.
Nine votes are needed for the meeting to proceed and Washington is “confident” it has sufficient support.
Analysts say there will likely be no action by the council — even if Russia were to invade Ukraine since a simple statement needs consensus support and Russia could veto any bid for a resolution.
Russia is one of five permanent, veto-wielding powers on the council along with the United States, France, Britain and China. The Security Council is charged with maintaining international peace and security.
One day after the meeting, Russia is set to assume the council’s rotating presidency for February.
Russia has massed some 120,000 troops near its neighbour and demanded the western defence alliance withdraw troops and weapons from Eastern Europe and bar Ukraine, a former Soviet state, from ever joining the Western defence alliance.
US officials have said Russia’s military buildup has expanded to include supplies to treat casualties of any conflict. Across the border in Ukraine, locals trained as army reservists as the government scrambled to prepare.
Moscow denies any plan to invade but said on Sunday it would ask NATO to clarify whether it intends to implement key security commitments.
Akwa Ibom Governor Udom Emmanuel has ended months of speculations and permutations with the presentation of one of his cabinet members to succeed him as governor in 2023.
At a well attended PDP Stakeholders’ Meeting which took place at the Governor’s Lodge, in Uyo, Emmanuel announced his Commissioner for Lands and Water Resources, Umo Eno, as his preferred choice to succeed him.
Former Governor, Obong Victor Attah, thereafter formally presented Eno to the Stakeholders which comprises major and leading political chieftains from the three Senatorial Districts, who all applauded the choice and pledged to work towards his emergence as the governor of the state come 2023.
Responding to the governor’s endorsement, Eno spoke about how he grew up in the Police barracks and how dreary and challenging those days were, but he summoned hope to overcome those difficulties.
He said he was grateful to God and to Governor Emmanuel for finding him worthy of the onerous task to lead the people of the State and continue the people-focused and developmental strides of the present administration.
Bishop Uma Ukpai and the Prelate Emeritus of the Methodist Church of Nigeria, Dr. Sunday Mbang prayed for his success. This was re-echoed by the Oku Ibom Ibibio and Chairman of State Council of Chiefs, Ntenyin Solomon Etuk.
The Lagos State Police Command has announced that physical and credential screening exercises will hold at the Police College, Ikeja, Lagos from February 1 to February 20, 2022 for applicants of Lagos State origin who applied for the ongoing recruitment into the Nigeria Police Force.
The exercise will be conducted according to Local Government Areas.
The Command spokesman, Adekunle Ajisebutu said applicants who successfully completed the 2021 online recruitment registration are to report for the exercise by 8 a.m. daily for the day scheduled for their Local Government.
“Applicants are to report at the venue of the screening exercise in a clean white T-shirt and a pair of shorts. They are also to come along with two white flat files, two passport-size photographs and National Identity Number (NIN), Original copies and duplicates of O’ Level result(s), certificate of origin, birth certificate or affidavit of declaration of age, print-out of application submission confirmation/profile page, duly completed guarantor’s form.
“Any candidate who fails to present on demand any of the requirements will not be considered for screening.
Meanwhile, the Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Abiodun Alabi, has assured applicants that the exercise will be conducted in the most transparent manner.
“The recruitment is absolutely free. Complaints about underhand dealings can be lodged through 08100004507”, he said.
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