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Kano State Mineral Development Agency Established For Growth Of Solid Mineral Sector

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The Kano State Executive Council has approved a bill for the establishment of the Kano State Mineral Development Agency (KASSOMIDA).

This is to enable the state effectively supervise the development of the solid mineral sector for economic development.

Kano State Commissioner for Information Muhammad Garba announced this while briefing the media on the outcome of the weekly council meeting held at Aminu Kano House, Asokoro, Abuja.

He said the council directed that a bill in that respect be transmitted to the state House of Assembly for passage into law.

Garba further explained that the creation of the agency would facilitate access to grants and development funds from the federal government which included but were not limited to the Ecological Funds and the Solid Minerals Funds.

The commissioner pointed out that the development would also ensure environmental management and protection by tackling illegal operations as the few employees of the federal government cannot cover the vast areas of land where such illegal activities are being conducted.

He also revealed that the council has approved the disarticulation of 1, 571 junior secondary schools (JSS) to the State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB).

Garba added that a total of 783 JSS are to be handed over to SUBEB with immediate effect under the phase of the exercise.

He added that 788 other junior schools, whose disarticulation is to be implemented gradually, would commence by halting the admission of students for the academic session with immediate effect.

NDLEA Gets One Billion Naira For Equipment

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The Federal Executive Council has approved the sum of N1, 069,600 billion for the purchase of equipment for the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA).

Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, revealed this while briefing State House Correspondents on the outcome of Wednesday’s meeting of the council, chaired by President Muhammadu Buhari.

He mentioned the devices earmarked for purchase to include eye scanning lie detectors and digital night vision goggles, all in a bid to tame the activities of drug barons.

He said: “As you rightly know, the National Drugs Law Enforcement Agency is an agency of government, saddled with the responsibility of exterminating illicit drugs trafficking, sales and consumption.  Arising from the fact that they have been doing wonderfully well, in terms of dealing with the scourge associated with drugs, the federal government has considered the possibility of making added provisions and employing and deploying technological equipment skills and competencies that will assist them in delivery.

The Minister said he had to present the memo because the National Drugs Law Enforcement Agency is an agency of the government under his Ministry, saddled with the responsibility of exterminating illicit drugs trafficking, sales and consumption.

He said the NDLEA has been doing wonderfully well, in terms of dealing with the scourge associated with drugs, thus, the decision to deploy technological equipment skills and competencies that will assist them in service delivery.

Mining Indaba 2022 To Host Inaugural Innovation & Research Battlefield

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A new annual event calling for innovative research proposals to address the mining industry’s toughest sustainable development challenges is coming to the Mining Indaba conference agenda this year.

On 9 and 11 May, the Innovation & Research Battlefield, an event convened by Investing in African Mining Indaba (Mining Indaba), Business for Development and the Development Partner Institute (DPI Mining), will be a high-profile platform showcasing early-stage innovations focused on this year’s challenge: Building Sustainable Post-Mining Economies.

The event organisers intend to attract a pool of global applicants by connecting academics, researchers, the private sector, NGOs, and young people with a vested interest in sustainable mining to decision-makers in the sector.

Egypt Claim Players Were Subjected To Racism Before World Cup Play-Off Against Senegal

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Egypt have lodged an official complaint against Senegal in which they claim their team was subjected to racism and “terrorised” by home fans in Dakar.

Sadio Mane’s winning shootout penalty sealed Senegal’s World Cup place with his Liverpool team-mate Mohamed Salah among those to miss for Egypt.

Egypt captain Salah was one of several visiting players targeted by green laser pointers during the shootout.

It is also claimed the Egypt team bus was attacked, causing injuries.

In a statement, the Egyptian Football Association [EFA] said it had lodged a formal complaint against its Senegalese counterpart before the match, filing this with Fifa, the Confederation of African Football [CAF], the match observer and the security official.

“The Egyptian team was subjected to racism after the appearance of offensive banners in the stands aimed at the players, specifically Mohamed Salah,” the statement added.

“Moreover the Senegalese fans terrorised the Egyptian players by throwing bottles and stones at them during the warm-up, as well as attacking the Egyptian team bus, which caused glass shattering and some injuries, which was documented with pictures and videos attached to the complaint.”

The Egyptian Football Association claim their team bus was attacked and posted a picture of a cracked window on Instagram

The EFA shared images of the damage to the team bus on Instagram, along with images of the offensive banner directed at Salah.

Dakar’s new 50,000-seater Stade Me Abdoulaye Wade was filled to capacity as Senegal beat Egypt 1-0 to make the score 1-1 on aggregate after extra-time in the World Cup play-off match.

The Africa Cup of Nations champions once again got the better of Egypt in a shootout, six weeks on from their triumph in the Afcon final, winning 3-1 on penalties to secure a place at the Qatar tournament in November.

As Liverpool forward Salah stepped up to take his penalty, green lasers could be seen shining on his face before he fired his effort over the crossbar.

At full-time, the 29-year-old had to be escorted down the tunnel by security personnel as supporters threw objects from above.

Fifa’s disciplinary body is analysing reports from the game before deciding on any next steps to be taken.

President of the Senegalese Federation, Augustin Senghor – who is also the vice-president of CAF – said he would await official reports on the incidents.

“From the stands, I didn’t pay attention to the projectiles thrown,” Senghor said. “About the lasers, if it happened this is a first in Senegal. But we know that in Cairo there were a lot of these and [they are used] often in specific countries. Senegal isn’t used to that.”

He added: “In my opinion, I didn’t see during this game something that could be considered as chauvinism because the Senegalese are known to be very welcoming.”

Kwara State Governor’s Wife Seeks Tuberculosis Eradication

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The Kwara state first lady and Founder of Ajike people’s support center, Ambassador Dr. Mrs Olufolake Abdulrazaq has stressed the need to intensify sensitization and awareness in combating tuberculosis in the state.

Ambassador Abdulrazaq stated this at an event organized by the state Ministry of Health to commemorate the 2022 World Tuberculosis Day at the G.pinacle Hotel Ilorin, North Central Nigeria.

Ambassador Olufolake Abdulrazaq who is the TB advocacy Ambassador for the state described this infectious and curable disease as ‘deadly’ with over 4,100 death record and close to 28,000 infected people on a daily basis.

She commended the Governor of Kwara state, Mallam Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq for prioritizing the health and wellbeing of the people of the state and further called for more synergized efforts for sustainable sensitization strategy towards ending the spread of the disease in the state and country at large.

In his address, the State Commissioner for Health, Dr Razaq Raji explained that the observance of this year’s World Tuberculosis Day which is themed “Invest to end TB; saves lives” is aimed at raising more awareness and also advocate for increased funding for TB control so as to stem the alarming rate of the spread of this killer disease.

Also in his welcome address, the state’s TB control program manager, Dr Muhammed Abdulrasheed quipped on the need to combine forces in eradicating this menace as it is a critical issue which needs collective intervention.

The guest lecturer, Dr Gafar Alawode explained the alarming rate of TB in Nigeria with a wide funding gap as there have been 155,000 deaths record out of over 418,000 people that fell ill with TB.

He further stated that Kwara is on the right track as targeted provisions has been made for the people of the state to have easy access to health care facilities through various initiated health schemes.

Naomi Osaka Beats Danielle Collins To Reach Miami Open Semi-Finals

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Former world number one Naomi Osaka moved into the Miami Open semi-finals with a straight-set win over American Danielle Collins.

The Japanese four-time Grand Slam champion, who has yet to drop a set in the tournament, served 13 aces in a 6-2 6-1 win that lasted exactly an hour.

Australian Open finalist Collins appeared to be struggling with a neck injury throughout the match.

Osaka will play Belinda Bencic of Switzerland in the semi-finals.

Olympic champion Bencic beat Australia’s Daria Saville 6-1 6-2 to reach the last four.

Osaka, who was reduced to tears  by a heckler during her second-round exit at Indian Wells this month, is playing just her fourth event since taking a break from tennis in September, and has dropped to 77th in the world rankings.

“This was my first night match so I didn’t know what the conditions were like but I was fine and the fans were great,” said the 24-year-old.

“I’m glad that, in a way, I don’t have a good ranking, because I’m able to play the matches that I need to play. I feel like I’m the type of person that plays better with more matches, so actually having back-to-back matches benefits me a lot.”

Semi-final opponent Bencic, 25, has also not lost a set so far in Miami and has beaten Osaka in four of their previous five meetings, most recently at the 2019 US Open.

“I get really emotional when I play people around my age or younger,” Osaka added. “I don’t know if it’s like this thing that I want to be better than them, but I just automatically put a lot of pressure on myself.

“I think my mentality was a very big part in my losses back then. Hopefully, it will be better, because I feel like I have kind of worked through it. So hopefully on Thursday, it will be more about tennis. “

Once Upon A Time – March 30 – 1867 – US Buys Alaska From Russia For $7,200,000 ($109 Million In 2018), Roughly 2 Cents An Acre

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240 BC 1st recorded perihelion passage of Halley’s Comet

1856 The Russian Empire, the Ottoman Empire, Great Britain, France and the Kingdom of Sardinia sign the Treaty of Paris ending the Crimean War

1867 Alaska Purchase: US buys Alaska from Russia for $7,200,000 ($109 million in 2018), roughly 2 cents an acre

1870 15th Amendment to the US constitution is adopted, guarantees right to vote regardless of race

1959 Dalai Lama flees China, granted political asylum in India

1972 Northern Ireland’s Government and Parliament dissolved by the British Government and ‘direct rule’ from Westminster is introduced

HISTORICAL EVENTS TODAY

TODAY IN FILM & TV

1981 “Chariots of Fire” directed by Hugh Hudson and starring Ben Cross and Ian Charleson premieres at a Royal Command Film Performance (Best Picture 1982)

TODAY IN MUSIC

1970 Miles Davis’s influential double album “Bitches Brew” released

TODAY IN SPORT

1990 Jack Nicklaus makes his debut on the Senior PGA Tour with a 71 (-1) in the first round of The Tradition at Desert Mountain; wins the event by 4 strokes from Gary Player

DO YOU KNOW THIS FACT ABOUT TODAY?

1987 Vincent van Gogh’s “Sunflowers” sells for a record 22.5 million pounds ($39.7 million)

WOULD YOU BELIEVE THIS FACT ABOUT TODAY?

1984 World’s most valuable tip – New York police detective Robert Cunningham offers waitress Phyllis Penzo half of $1 lottery ticket, next day they win $6 million

Germany Prepares To Ration Gas In standoff With Russia

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The German authorities have taken the first formal step in the direction of rationing gasoline as it braces itself for a possible halt in deliveries from Russia because of a dispute over funds.

Economics minister, Robert Habeck on Wednesday morning activated the “early warning section” of a current gasoline emergency regulation put in place to cope with acute power shortages.

The transfer was triggered by Germanys’ concern that Russia may soon minimize gasoline provides to the nation and its neighbors as a result of they’re rebuffing Moscow’s efforts to sell gasoline imports in roubles.

Russian officers stated on Tuesday that Moscow wouldn’t “provide gasoline without spending a dime” to Europe, a day after G7 nations unanimously rejected President Vladimir Putin’s directive requiring rouble funds.

Throughout the early warning section, one of the three phases in Germany’s emergency response, a disaster crew from the economics ministry, the regulator and the personal sector will monitor imports and storage.

If gas supply does fall, and fewer draconian makes an attempt to decrease consumption don’t work, the federal government would minimize off sure elements of German trade from the grid and provides preferential remedy to households.

Habeck, who can also be vice-chancellor, advised journalists in Berlin that the step was taken in anticipation of the Russian regulation, which conflicts with the denomination of long-term provide contracts in euros or {dollars}.

As Germany is making an attempt to wean itself off Russian gasoline and now imports extra LNG, Russia’s market share of German imports has fallen from a mean of 55 per cent in recent times to 40 per cent up to now few weeks.

In its final week, Germany has unveiled that it plans to chop its dependence on Russian power quickly, vowing to all however wean itself off the nation’s gasoline by mid-2024 and turn out to be “nearly unbiased” of its oil by the top of this year

Europe’s wholesale gasoline worth rose 8 per cent to €114.45 per megawatt hour in early buying and selling on Wednesday.

Five killed by Palestinian gunman in latest deadly attack in Israel

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Israeli police officers and rescue forces are seen at the scene of a shooting attack in Bnei Brak, March 29, 2022. Photo by Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90 *** Local Caption *** בני ברק פיגוע משטרה כוחות הצלה מדא זקא גופה הרוגים פצועים טרור מחבלים

Five people have been shot dead by a Palestinian gunman in a suburb of the Israeli city of Tel Aviv, in the third deadly attack of its kind in a week.

It happened on Tuesday evening in Bnei Brak, one of the country’s most populous ultra-Orthodox Jewish areas.

The gunman was shot dead by police, a paramedic at the scene said.

Israel security forces were on high alert after attacks by Israeli Arabs last Tuesday and Sunday, which left six people dead.

Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said the country was “currently dealing with a new wave of terrorism”.

Ethiopia begins drive to return 100,000 migrants

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Ethiopia has started a new drive to repatriate tens of thousands of migrant workers in Saudi Arabia.

The first batch of 498 women and children returnees were received on Wednesday by senior government officials at Addis Ababa’s main airport.

It follows reports of undocumented migrants being subjected to inhumane treatment in the Middle East country, including detention in squalid centres.

The Ethiopian authorities hope to repatriate 100,000 nationals back home over the next 11 months.

The government has come under criticism particularly on social media for not doing enough on the plight of Ethiopian migrants in Saudi Arabia

It is unclear if the returnees will be provided with sustainable livelihoods at home.

Lack of attractive local opportunities has previously seen returnees go back to the Middle East shortly after repatriation.