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Thousands Flee Canaries Volcano As Lava Streams Destroy Homes

Zoe Maven
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Thousands Flee Canaries Volcano As Lava Streams Destroy Homes

At least 5,500 people have been evacuated and at least 100 houses destroyed after Lava flowing from the Canary Islands’ first volcanic eruption in 50 years.

The flow of molten rock was expected to reach the coast later on Monday evening, potentially triggering more explosions, and the volcano itself would remain active for days.

The volcano erupted on Sunday, shooting lava hundreds of metres into the air, engulfing forests and sending molten rock towards the Atlantic Ocean over a sparsely populated area of La Palma.

No fatalities or injuries have been reported but drone footage captured two tongues of black lava cutting a devastating swathe through the landscape as they advanced down the volcano’s western flank towards the sea.

Authorities have not given an updated tally of how many properties have been destroyed since the head of La Palma’s local government gave an estimate of 100 early on Monday.

Regional leader Angel Victor Torres said the damage would be substantial.

In the meantime, Tourism Minister Reyes Maroto said the eruption was wonderful show which would attract more tourists. The comments were criticised by the opposition at a time when many residents hadlost their homes.

Giant Eco-friendly Artwork Produced With Biodegradable Paints Unveiled At United Nations

Angel Gimalo
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Giant Eco-friendly Artwork Produced With Biodegradable Paints Unveiled At United Nations

Swiss-French artist Saype (Guillaume Legros) presents his giant ephemeral landart painting entitled “World in Progress II” at UN Headquarters, New York.

The artwork, representing two children drawing and building with origami their ideal world, covers 11’000 square meters (118’000 sq ft) and is produced with biodegradable paints made from natural pigments such as charcoal and chalk.

It constitutes the second step of a project started at the U.N. European headquarters in Geneva in 2020.

The project is supported and gifted by Switzerland to the U.N. to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the organization.

12-Rivals Allege Fraud As Russian Pro-Putin Party Wins Big Majority

Zoe Maven
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12-Rivals Allege Fraud As Russian Pro-Putin Party Wins Big Majority

Opponents accused Russian authorities of mass fraud on Monday after the ruling United Russia party, which supports President Vladimir Putin, won a bigger than expected parliamentary majority.

With 99.9% of ballots counted, the Central Election Commission said United Russia had won nearly 50% of the vote, with its nearest rival, the Communist Party, taking just under 19%.

The scale of the victory means United Russia will have more than two-thirds of deputies in the 450-seat State Duma lower house of parliament. This will enable it to continue to push through laws without having to rely on other parties.

United Russia, a party that Putin helped found, had always been expected to win. Its most vociferous critics, allies of jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, were prevented from taking part in the election after a court branded them extremists in June.

Pre-vote surveys had suggested that discontent over years of faltering living standards and corruption allegations would dent United Russia’s support. In the event, near final official results showed it securing around only 4% less than the last time a similar election was held in 2016.

The U.S. State Department said the election conditions had not been conducive to free and fair proceedings, Britain’s foreign ministry called the vote a setback for democratic freedom, and EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said the bloc noted reports of serious violations.

Up to 200 Communist protesters who felt cheated gathered for a demonstration in Moscow on Monday evening as police looked on.

Candidates opposed to United Russia in the capital had been ahead in more than half of 15 electoral districts, but all lost after electronic voters were added in.

Lawmakers Question German Poll Front-Runner Over Searches

Zoe Maven
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Lawmakers Question German Poll Front-Runner Over Searches

Finance Minister Olaf Scholz, frontrunner in Germany’s election, canceled campaign events Monday to answer questions from lawmakers on Monday over an investigation of a unit of the country’s customs service that resulted in a recent police search at his ministry.

Scholz and his Social Democrats have raised questions over the necessity and motivation of the Sept. 9 searches at his ministry and the justice ministry, which also is run by his center-left party.

Outgoing Chancellor Angela Merkel’s center-right Union bloc, which polls show trailing by a few points before Sunday’s election, has seized on the searches and on Scholz’s reaction to assail the candidate.

Opposition parties called a special meeting of parliament’s finance committee to discuss the matter and following criticism over reports that he likely would only testify by video link, Scholz appeared in person, canceling campaign events in Germany’s southwest.

Investigators are looking into suspected obstruction of justice by unidentified employees of the Financial Intelligence Unit, or FIU.

They say they have been investigating since last year because indications of possible money laundering from banks to the FIU weren’t passed on to police and judicial authorities.

The finance ministry ultimately oversees the unit, and says the suspicion of wrongdoing isn’t directed against its own employees. It says Scholz has reinforced the FIU since becoming finance minister in 2018, and that its head was replaced that year.

Opponents have long pointed to other events that have taken place on Scholz’s watch, such as the collapse last year of payment processing company Wirecard.

Shipments Of South Korea’s Hydrogen Cars Soars 238% On-Year

Angel Gimalo
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Shipments Of South Korea’s Hydrogen Cars Soars 238% On-Year

In Asia, South Korea’s automobile exports increased in August… marking the eighth consecutive month of growth.

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said the value of automobile exports increased by near 17 percent last month compared to the previous year, hitting three billion u.s. dollars.

The rise was largely backed by an increase in sales of eco-friendly cars which hit an all-time high.

They accounted for 23 percent of the total number exported.

Shipments of hydrogen cars soared 238 percent on-year, and electric vehicle exports jumped 91 percent.

France’s Emmanuel Macron Heckled Asking Algerian Veterans For Forgiveness

Zoe Maven
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France’s Emmanuel Macron Heckled Asking Algerian Veterans For Forgiveness

French President Macron has asked Algerians who fought for France during Algeria’s war of independence for forgiveness.

He was heckled as he admitted France had failed in its duty to the group – known as the Harkis.

Many lived in poor conditions behind barbed fenced wires after the government refused to recognise their rights to stay in France, and those remaining in Algeria faced savage reprisals as collaborators.

Speaking to an audience of Harkis and their descendants in Paris, Macron promised legislation on reparations as well as a monument.

Monday’s speech marks the latest in a series of attempts by the French president to address historical grievances with Algerians in the hope of improving relations between the two countries, which have been fraught since Algeria’s independence in 1962.

In March, his government admitted its army tortured and killed a prominent Algerian activist more than 60 years ago.

Around 300 former Harkis – who derive their name from the Arabic word for movement – were invited to hear Macron speak, according reports.

During the speech Macron also outlined plans for a commission to hear about the squalid French camps former fighters and their children were forced to live in.

It is estimated that up to 200,000 Harkis fought for France during the eight-year war, but only 42,000 were allowed to relocate to France after Algeria gained independence, AFP reports.

Tens of thousands of those left in Algeria were labelled as traitors and killed.

AfDB Approves $1m Grant For Africa’s Hydropower Stations

Angel Gimalo
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AfDB Approves $1m Grant For Africa’s Hydropower Stations

The Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa (SEFA) of the African Development Bank (AfDB) has approved $1 million grant for the modernisation of Africa’s aging hydropower fleet.

According to a statement from the AfDB, the modernisation of hydropower stations is an opportunity to increase generation capacity at low-cost, and with relatively short lead-times and minimal environmental impact.

It said the grant would also fund the mapping and evaluation of African hydropower facilities’ rehabilitation needs.

It would also support the preparation of modernisation works for two pilot facilities to a bankable stage.

The statement added that the move was expected to add 200 megawatts in generation capacity, create 150 jobs and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by about 300 kilotons of carbon dioxide annually.

Forfeited E’Guinea VP Assets To Be Used By UN, Ngo For Health Care

Zoe Maven
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Forfeited E’Guinea VP Assets To Be Used By UN, Ngo For Health Care

Some $26 million in assets forfeited by the son of the leader of Equatorial Guinea are to be used by the United Nations and an NGO to fund health care in the African nation.

The US Justice Department on Monday announced that the UN will receive $19.25 million to purchase and distribute Covid-19 vaccines and Medical Care Development International (MCDI) will receive $6.35 million for medicines and medical supplies to be sent to Equatorial Guinea.

The funds stem from a civil forfeiture settlement involving Vice President Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue, whose father has ruled the country since 1979.

In the civil forfeiture case, the United States alleged that Obiang had amassed more than $300 million worth of assets through corruption and money laundering.

Under a 2014 settlement agreement, Obiang was forced to sell a Malibu, California, mansion that he purchased for $30 million, a Ferrari automobile and various items of Michael Jackson memorabilia, according to the Justice Department.

The US Justice Department said $10.3 million of these settlement funds were to be forfeited to the United States and the remaining settlement funds would be distributed to a charity or other organization for the benefit of the people of Equatorial Guinea,”

A French court recently upheld Obiang’s conviction in France for accumulating luxury properties with illegally obtained funds, handing out a suspended three-year prison sentence and a 30 million euro ($35 million) fine.

Despite Equatorial Guinea’s oil riches, most of the central African country’s 1.4 million people live below the poverty line.

N’korea Slams US Over Submarine Deal, Warns Countermeasures

Zoe Maven
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N’korea Slams US Over Submarine Deal, Warns Countermeasures

North Korea has expressed criticism over U.S’s decision to provide nuclear-powered submarines to Australia and threatened unspecified countermeasures if it finds the deal affects its security.

State media on Monday published comments from an unidentified North Korean Foreign Ministry official who called the arrangement between U.S., Britain and Australia an “extremely” dangerous move that would destroy the security balance in the Asia-Pacific.

The official said the North was closely examining the deal and would proceed accordingly if it has “even a little adverse impact on the security of our country.”

Last week, President Joe Biden announced a new alliance including Australia and Britain that would deliver an Australian fleet of at least eight nuclear-powered submarines.

Biden has stressed the vessels would be conventionally armed.

But France denounced the move, accusing Australia of concealing its intentions to back out of a 90 billion Australian dollar contract with the French majority state-owned Naval Group to build 12 conventional diesel-electric submarines for Australia.

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison blamed the switch on a deteriorating strategic environment in the Indo-Pacific, a clear reference to China’s massive military buildup that has been gaining pace.

Apparently alluding to the French complaints, the North Korean official said the United States was being accused of back-stabbing even by its allies.

The North believes the deal would destroy the “peace and stability of the region and the international nuclear non-proliferation system” and catalyze an arms race.

President Buhari Approves Siting Of Neuropsychiatric Hospital In Kwara

Olasunbo Okoromi
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President Buhari Approves Siting Of Neuropsychiatric Hospital In Kwara

The Kwara State Governor, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, has commended President Muhammadu Buhari for approving Kwara as the host state for the federal neuropsychiatric hospital for the north central zone.

In a statement issued on Sunday by his Chief Press Secretary, Rafiu Ajakaye, the Governor said the approval is a dream come true for the administration and the three senators from Kwara, especially Senator Yahya Oloriegbe (Kwara Central), who all worked hard to make it happen.

“I send our profound appreciation to Mr. President for this huge honour done to our people. I also commend the Honourable Minister of Health for supporting our bid for the strategic institution. This facility, like a few other federal initiatives already won by the state and those being put in place by our administration, seals the place of Kwara as the new go-to place in not just the north central but in the entire northern region,” the Governor said in the statement.

The Governor’s statement came on the heels of a communication to him by Minister of State for Health Dr. Adeleke Olorunnimbe Mamora conveying President’s approval that the facility be sited in Budo Egba, Asa local government area of Kwara State.

“I wish to extend my compliments and to convey Mr. President’s approval for the establishment of a neuropsychiatric hospital at Budo-Egba…via Ref. No. PRES/81/SGF/719,” Mamora said in a letter to the Governor dated September 16, 2021 and titled ‘Re:Request for the establishment of a Neuro-Psychiatric Hospital in Kwara State for the North Central Geo-Political zone of Nigeria.

The state government’s team is expected to meet with a team of the Federal Ministry of Health later this month to facilitate the take off of the hospital.

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