Oil Prices Soar Past $100 as Russia Sends Troops Into Ukraine

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February 24, 2022

Oil prices have surged past $100 (£74) a barrel after Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a “special military operation” in the eastern Donbas region of Ukraine.

These are the highest levels seen by the international benchmark Brent crude futures in more than seven years.

Russia is the second biggest exporter of crude oil after Saudi Arabia BUT Prices jumped earlier this week before cooling amid economic sanctions and moves to block a Russian gas pipeline.

It is also the world’s largest natural gas exporter.

According to market analyst Tina Teng, “We could see prices keeping the momentum,”

“Investors are concerned about an even tighter supply, caused by the US sanctions on Russia to target the key supply source, the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline,” she said.

The Nord Stream 2 is a 1,200km pipeline under the Baltic Sea, which will take gas from the Russian coast near St Petersburg to Lubmin in Germany. The pipeline does not yet have an operating license – and Germany has now put this on hold.

It took the step after Russia formally recognized two breakaway regions in eastern Ukraine, and sent troops there.

The US, UK and some of their allies have also imposed a series of sanctions on Russia in response to Mr Putin’s actions against Ukraine.

The UK has frozen the assets of five banks and three Russian billionaires, who have also been hit with travel bans.

On Tuesday, Boris Johnson said these sanctions were a “first barrage” and could be extended.

“The moves by Russia suggest economic sanctions are not having any significant impact in holding off aggression,” said Yeap Jun Rong, a market strategist.

Super Falcons Complete Double Over Cote d’Ivoire, Qualify For 2022 WAFCON

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Emenike Agu

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February 24, 2022

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The ever presence of the Nigeria’s women’s team at the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations was on Wednesday evening confirmed following the Super Falcon’s 1-0 away win over Cote d’Ivoire.

This is a follow up to an earlier 2-0 win in Abuja and thus sees the Super Falcons to the final championship in Morocco by a 3-0 aggregate.

The Super Falcons have never missed any edition and are the cup holders having won the last edition in Ghana in 2018. The 2020 edition was cancelled on account of the Coronavirus pandemic.

In addition, the Nigerians are record winners, having won nine of the 11 editions, losing only in 2008 and 2012 when Equatorial Guinea won. Even then, the Super Falcons made podium appearance in the 2008 edition, and fourth position in 2012.

The Wednesday win over Cote d’Ivoire was a sort of revenge as the Ivorian ladies were responsible for Super Falcons not qualifying for the football event of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

On Wednesday, the Ivorians threw everything into the return leg encounter at the Stade Robert Champroux but met a steely Nigerian defence and an inspired goalkeeper Chiamaka Nnadozie who would not give an inch.

The game flowed back and forth for large swathes of the first half. Coach Randy Waldrum made two changes to the starting line-up from the first leg, bringing in midfielder Regina Otu and forward Francisca Ordega.

The lively Ordega thought she had given Nigeria the lead halfway into the first period, but the Nigerien referee ruled it out.

In the 34^th minute, Nigerien referee Zouwaira Souley awarded a penalty to the homers after judging that Ashleigh Plumptre had tripped an Ivorian striker in the Nigerian area. Goalkeeper Nnadozie saved the shot, and the contact from the same player off the rebound went into side-netting.

The Super Falcons dug their feet into the ground in the second half, refusing to give the Lady Elephants any leeway. Plumptre, Captain Onome Ebi, Osinachi Ohale and Michelle Alozie all held their ground as the Elephants increased their onslaughts.

A minute to the end, Esther Okoronkwo, winning only her second cap for Nigeria, scored the back-breaker that confirmed a 3-0 aggregate win for the Super Falcons.

UEFA Calls Extraordinary Meeting To Discuss Situation Between Russia And Ukraine

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Emenike Agu

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February 24, 2022

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UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin speaks during a news conference in Minsk, Belarus September 19, 2019. REUTERS/Vasily Fedosenko/File Photo

UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin has called an extraordinary meeting of the Executive Committee for Friday, Europe’s soccer governing body said on Thursday following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

This season’s Champions League final is to be held in St Petersburg in May and the EU Parliament had asked UEFA to change the venue and to stop considering Russian cities for international football competitions

Cancel Russian Grand Prix Now – Sebastian Vettel

By

Emenike Agu

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February 24, 2022

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Sebastian Vettel says the Russian Grand Prix should be cancelled – and he will not be there if the race goes ahead.

Russian forces invaded Ukraine on Thursday morning on the orders of Russian President Vladimir Putin, who is closely associated with his country’s F1 race.

Four-time champion Vettel said: “I should not go, I will not go. It is wrong to race in the country.

“I am sorry for the innocent people who are being killed for stupid reasons.”

Vettel said Russia had “a very strange and mad leadership”.

He added that he was “shocked” by events in Ukraine, and that while “we will see [what happens] going forward, my decision [on whether to race in Russia] is already made”.

Reigning champion Max Verstappen added: “When a country is at war, it is not right to race there.”

And two-time champion Fernando Alonso said: “It will be an F1 decision. As drivers, we have our decision and I am sure it is the same as everyone but we don’t have the power to decide.

“We can take our own decision but F1 will do the best.”

The Russian Grand Prix is scheduled to take place in Sochi on 25 September.

The team principals are to have a meeting with F1 at pre-season testing in Spain on Thursday to discuss the Russia situation.

Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto said: “It is an awful situation, it’s very sad. At the moment, all we can do is wait and see and hope for the best.

“The race is in September, and my wish is everything will stop very soon. F1 is trying to manage the situation and we will have meeting tonight to try to understand it better. We can only try to have a deep discussion and try to understand the situation for the future.”

F1 said in a statement said that it was “closely watching the very fluid developments and at this time has no further comment on the race”.

It added: “We will continue to monitor the situation very closely.”

The page selling tickets for the event has disappeared from the official F1 website, and one promoting the Turkish Grand Prix has appeared.

This has led to speculation that the race will be cancelled and replaced by one at Turkey’s Istanbul Park.

But F1 said this was a development issue with the website and “nothing deliberate”.

The US-based Haas team has significant Russian financial backing through its driver Nikita Mazepin.

A spokesman said: “Presently there is no knock-on impact”, adding: “We are obviously monitoring the situation and will continue to do so.”

So far in 2022, 45,318 women have died during childbirth —Worldometer

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Cleopatra Okohai

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February 24, 2022

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No fewer than 45,318 women have died during childbirth, so far in 2022, according to Worldometer., a live world statistic on population, government and economics, society and media, environment, food, water, energy and health.

Worldometer is run by an international team of developers, researchers, and volunteers with the goal of making world statistics available in a thought-provoking and time-relevant format to a wide audience around the world.

According to the reference website, since the dawn of this day alone, over 442 mothers have died during childbirth.

The World Health Organisation says women die as a result of complications during and following pregnancy and childbirth.

WHO says while most of these complications develop during pregnancy, most are preventable or treatable.

“Other complications may exist before pregnancy but are worsened during pregnancy, especially if not managed as part of the woman’s care. The major complications that account for nearly 75 percent of all maternal deaths are severe bleeding (mostly bleeding after childbirth); infections (usually after childbirth); high blood pressure during pregnancy (pre-eclampsia and eclampsia); complications from delivery and unsafe abortion.

“The remainder are caused by or associated with infections such as malaria or related to chronic conditions like cardiac diseases or diabetes,” WHO said.

The global health body noted that the high number of maternal deaths in some areas of the world reflects inequalities in access to quality health services and highlights the gap between rich and poor. The maternal mortality ratio in low-income countries in 2017 is 462 per 100,000 live births versus 11 per 100,000 live births in high-income countries.

“In 2017, according to the Fragile States Index, 15 countries were considered to be “very high alert” or “high alert” being a fragile state (South Sudan, Somalia, Central African Republic, Yemen, Syria, Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Chad, Afghanistan, Iraq, Haiti, Guinea, Zimbabwe, Nigeria and Ethiopia), and these 15 countries had MMRs in 2017 ranging from 31 (Syria) to 1150 (South Sudan).

“The risk of maternal mortality is highest for adolescent girls under 15 years old and complications in pregnancy and childbirth are higher among adolescent girls age 10-19 (compared to women aged 20-24).

“Women in less developed countries have, on average, many more pregnancies than women in developed countries, and their lifetime risk of death due to pregnancy is higher. A woman’s lifetime risk of maternal death is the probability that a 15-year-old woman will eventually die from a maternal cause. In high-income countries, this is one in 5400, versus one in 45 in low-income countries,” WHO said.

Once Upon A Time – Feb. 24 – 2008 – Fidel Castro Retires As President Of Cuba After Nearly Fifty Years, Due To Ill Health

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Angel Gimalo

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February 24, 2022

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After Nearly Fifty Years1 — Cuban leader Fidel Castro speaks at the 30th anniversary of the communist revolution on Jan. 1, 1989, in Havana. Castro died Friday at age 90.

303 1st official Roman edict for persecution of Christians issued by Emperor Diocletian

1525 Battle of Pavia: Holy Roman Emperor Charles V’s troops beat the French. French King Francois I captured, 15,000 killed or wounded

1582 Pope Gregory XIII announces New Style (Gregorian) calendar

1739 Battle of Karnal: Army of Iranian ruler Nadir Shah defeats the forces of the Mughal emperor of India, Muhammad Shah

1821 Agustín de Iturbide and Vicente Guerrero agree to the Plan of Iguala, stating that Mexico will become a constitutional monarchy, Roman Catholicism the official religion and that Peninsulares and Creoles will enjoy equal political and social rights

1868 US House of Representatives vote 126 to 47 to impeach President Andrew Johnson

1873 A longstanding edict against Christianity is revoked in Japan.

1946 General Juan Perón first elected President of Argentina

2008 Fidel Castro retires as the President of Cuba due to ill health after nearly fifty years

HISTORICAL EVENTS TODAY

TODAY IN FILM & TV

1969 “The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie” film based on novel by Muriel Spark directed by Ronald Neame, starring Maggie Smith (Academy Award Best Actress) premieres in London

TODAY IN MUSIC

1607 Claudio Monteverdi’s opera “LOrfeo” premieres in Mantua, oldest opera still regularly performed

TODAY IN SPORT

2010 Sachin Tendulkar scores the first double century in One Day International cricket

DO YOU KNOW THIS FACT ABOUT TODAY?

2020 Scientists identify the first animal that doesn’t need oxygen to breathe – a tiny parasite living in salmon tissue, reported in journal PNAS

WOULD YOU BELIEVE THIS FACT ABOUT TODAY?

2014 A 4.4 billion-year-old Crystal is discovered to be the oldest known fragment from the earth’s crust

FAMOUS WEDDINGS

1613 English princess Elizabeth marries Earl Frederik of Palts

1662 English Poet and author of “Paradise Lost” John Milton marries 3rd wife Elizabeth Mynshull, 31 years his junior.

1886 Inventor Thomas Edison (38) marries 2nd wife Mina Miller (20) in Akron, Ohio

Last World Cup Hosts, Russia Launch War On Ukraine

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Emenike Agu

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February 24, 2022

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With the next World Cup in Qatar just nine months away, the immediate past hosts, Russia has triggered what could be the World War III as the world woke up Thursday morning to the sound of gun shots and bombing of Ukraine.

Even though no official statement has come from FIFA, the conflict has undoubtedly scuppered two World Cup qualifiying play-off matches.

One involves Russia who this Thursday are supposed to host Poland in Moscow, the same day that Russia has carried out the invasion of Ukraine.

Poland incidentally is one of the Eastern European countries that share border with the invaded Ukraine. It is almost unthinkable they will risk travelling to Russia to fulfil the World Cup play-off fixture.

The other fixture endangered is the one involving the Russia-invaded Ukraine and Scotland in Glasgow. A World Cup qualifier will command the least of attention for a country at war. Frightened Ukrainians took to subway stations on Thursday as air raid sirens rang out across the country’s main cities following Russia’s launch of its feared military attack.

According to Independent, a UK newspaper, Ukraine claimed it had shot down five Russian warplanes and a helicopter following Vladimir Putin’s invasion. The Russian aircraft were brought down over the eastern Luhansk region, Kiev said

But Russia rubbished the claims. The Russian defence ministry denied the claim, saying it had taken Ukrainian bases “out of action” and incapacitated the country’s air defences within hours.

Such claim sound justified considering the comparative military strength of both countries as could be gleaned from the illustration below.

Nigeria’s infodemic management system effective – NCDC

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Cleopatra Okohai

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February 24, 2022

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The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), in collaboration with Breakthrough ACTION-Nigeria and African Field Epidemiology Network, said its robust and strategic rumour management system has been effective in managing infodemics.

The Director, Prevention Programmes and Knowledge Management, Head of Research, NCDC, Dr. Chinwe Ochu, stated this while speaking on the sideline of the Media Preparedness against Future and Current Outbreak Response Programme Brainstorming session on Wednesday in Lagos.

Ochu explained that NCDC had a robust rumour management system that utilised software to scan social media and the Internet for trending news.

“We usually classify this news as valid, misinformation or disinformation. When rumours contain information that can constitute a public health threat, we usually counter such rumours with scientific evidence and facts.

“Our infodemic management system counters rumours with evidence, making sure credible information is made available and accessible to the public.

“So, it is a very robust system that was developed with a lot of our communication partners.

“We are always working with the media and making sure we provide necessary information for the public through the media,” she said.

Also, the Head, Communications, NCDC, Dr. Yahya Disu, said Nigeria had been playing a leading role in the infodemic management road map for the country.

According to him, it is more like the coordinating agency for the infodemic management team for the country.

“We have Ministries, Departments and Agencies as well as partners who are work8ng with us.

“We have been able to develop a framework strategy and action plan for infodemic management.

“We have also started developing tools for infodemics management, we have some before as we are upgrading those tools to be able to reflect the contemporary needs,” Disu said.

Disu, who stressed the challenges at the sub-national level, said they would build their capacity and integrate them into the national infodemics management system.

“This is because there has been a lot of misinformation on epidemic issues at the sub-national, grassroots level and even offline.

“We also have existing structures in the communities for disseminating information, like the Community Based Organisations, Civil Society Organisations, Non-governmental Organisations, Religious Organisations, Faith-Based Organisations, among others.

“We want to build their capacity to understand what misinformation is and how to use that structure to debunk rumours,” he said.

Doctors, nurses more guilty of female genital mutilation –Physician

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Cleopatra Okohai

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February 24, 2022

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A medical expert, Professor Babatunde Olofinbiyi, has said nurses and doctors were more guilty of engaging in female genital mutilation than traditional birth attendants.

Olofinbiyi said this in Ado Ekiti on Wednesday during the delayed celebration of the International Day of Zero Tolerance against FGM organised by the state Ministry of Health in conjunction with the Office of the Governor’s Wife.

In his lecture, he said, “FGM is a monster; an old traditional practice, which is being ‘medicalised’, but with a dint of hard work, we will be able to overcome it.

“Fifty per cent of those who still carry out FGM are nurses, while five per cent of the perpetrators are medical doctors.

“We have a long way to go. To win this battle, the fight has to start from within the healthcare practitioners. We have to fight the resistance from within.”

The expert, who said traditional birth attendants and local practitioners accounted for just 25 per cent of those involved in FGM, canvassed education of the girl-child and the community by saying, “We must educate the public to change their orientation and also educate the girl-child about the harmful effects of FGM.”

The Chief Medical Director, Ekiti State University Teaching Hospital, Ado Ekiti, Prof Kayode Olabanji, said the state Sexual Assault Referral Centre, located within the facility, had attended to 151 victims of Gender-Based Violence in the last 18 months.

Olabanji said the figure, which comprised 110 rape cases and others, including intimate partners’ violence, batteries and victims of female genital mutilation, stated, “We should increase sensitisation to end the menace.”

The CMD said the fact that FGM victims presented themselves because of complications showed that the practice was still on.

The state Chief Judge, Justice John Adeyeye, who said sensitisation against FGM should be stepped up, stated, “We should be aggressive in winning this war. We are totally in support and we will demonstrate this by applying all the extant laws.”

The CJ, represented by the acting Chief Registrar, Adesoji Adegboye, alleged that highly placed persons in the state were promoters of the harmful practice and said the judiciary would apply the law to bring perpetrators to justice to serve as a deterrent to those who were involved in FGM.

The wife of the state governor, Bisi Fayemi, who said she always felt depressed whenever she talked about FGM after years of advocacy, warned that legal and punitive measures as enshrined in the 2019 Gender-Based Violence Law would be meted to FGM practitioners in the state.

“There are sanctions in place because, after persuasions for people to drop this bad habit, the government may start sending culprits to the Nigeria Correctional Centre on Afao Road. Let us end the practice in our generation.

“We must not pass FGM to our children and grandchildren. Let us set up advocacy committees in local government areas,” Mrs. Fayemi stated.

The Commissioner for Health, Dr. Oyebanji Filani, and his Women Affairs counterpart, Alhaja Maryam Ogunlade, said all hands must be on the deck to bring the FGM practice to zero in the state in line with the theme of the programme, ‘Accelerating investment to end FGM’

UBEC Set To Conduct Assessment Based on Best Practices

By

Rhoda Onuzulike

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February 23, 2022

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The Executive Secretary, Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC), Hamid Bobboyi, says the commission has concluded plans to conduct an internationally accepted national assessment.

He disclosed this at a five-day workshop to develop test items for Nigeria’s 2022 National Assessment of Learning Achievement in Basic Education (NALABE).

Bobboyi said UBEC and UNICEF had put everything together to conduct an internationally accepted national assessment.

The national assessment is a survey of schools and learning to provide evidence about learners’ achievement in identified curriculum areas such as reading/literacy, mathematics/numeracy, science, and other skills for a clearly defined part of the education system.

In a statement signed by the Head, Public Relations and Protocol, David Apeh, Bobboyi said the workshop aimed to achieve “objectives amongst others to generate test items in four core subjects in primary 3, 5, and JS 2.

The executive secretary, represented by the Deputy Executive Secretary, Prof. Bala Zakari, said that since the inception of UBEC, the commission had conducted five studies, 2001, 2003, 2006, 2011 and 2017, based on its mandate enshrined in the UBE act of 2004.

The Director Quality Assurance, Mansir Idris, said the commission, in its quest to conduct a national assessment that will be recognised and acceptable by stakeholders nationally and internationally, identified the need to collaborate and work closely with international agencies like IEA, UNICEF, FCDO, and other agencies involved in large scale assessment for the development and standardised test items.