Home Blog Page 1947

Reps Pass Pres. Buhari’s Raising Teachers’ Retirement Age Bill

By
Rhoda Onuzulike
-
0

The House of Representatives, on Tuesday, passed an executive bill that seeks to raise the retirement age of teachers in Nigeria.

The passage followed consideration of the report on the bill by the Committee of the Whole on Tuesday.

The President, President Muhammadu Buhari, had on June 2, 2021, sent the executive bill to the Senate and the House, seeking to increase the retirement age for teachers in the country from 60 to 65 years. It also seeks to extend the years of service for teachers from 35 to 40 years.

Buhari, in the letter addressed to President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan; and Speaker of the House, Femi Gbajabiamila, respectively, explained that the piece of legislation would provide for a harmonised retirement age for teachers in Nigeria.

The letter in part reads, “Transmission of the Harmonised Retirement Age for Teachers in Nigeria Bill 2021 to the National Assembly for consideration.

“Pursuant to Section 58 subsection 2 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended), I forward herewith the harmonised retirement age for teachers in Nigeria Bill, 2021 for consideration by the Senate.

“The harmonised retirement age for teachers in Nigeria bill 2021 seeks to increase the retirement age for teachers from 60 to 65 years, and also increase the possible years of service from 35 to 40 years.

“While appreciating your usual expeditious consideration of this submission, please, accept, Distinguished Senate President, the assurances of my highest consideration.”

Jordan Says King Abdullah Met With Israeli Islamist Lawmaker

By
Zoe Maven
-
1

The head of the Islamist party in Israel’s governing coalition has met with Jordan’s King Abdullah II in Amman on Tuesday, in a latest sign of warming ties between the two countries.

The Jordanian Royal Palace said in a statement that Abdullah and United Arab List lawmaker Mansour Abbas discussed “the latest developments in the Palestinian territories and ways to advance the peace process.

Abbas’s office confirmed that he met with the Jordanian leader in Amman, but provided no additional details.

Abbas and his four-seat United Arab List made history in June by becoming the first Arab party to join an Israeli ruling coalition, enabling Prime Minister Naftali Bennett to form a government and oust longtime leader Benjamin Netanyahu.

Since the inauguration of Israel’s new government in June, Bennett has prioritized mending fences with neighboring Jordan. In September, Israeli President Isaac Herzog met Abdullah in the Jordanian capital less than two months after Bennett met Abdullah in secret.

The two countries signed a peace accord in 1994 and share close security ties, but recent years saw relations sour over Israeli policies toward the Palestinians and frictions at the contested Jerusalem holy site known to Jews as the Temple Mount and Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary.

Chilean President Impeached Over Pandora Papers Revelation

By
Zoe Maven
-
0
El presidente de la Republica de Chile, Sebastian Pinera, ofrece declaraciones luego de destaparse el caso "Pandora Papers" en el Palacio de la Modeda en Santiago el 04 de Octubre de 2021, (Photo by JAVIER TORRES / AFP)

President Sebastián Piñera has been impeached by the lower house of Chile’s congress, setting up a trial in the nation’s Senate over whether to remove him due to allegations he favored the sale of a family property while in office.

The vote to accept the charges got the bare minimum of 78 votes needed in the 155-member Chamber of Deputies and followed a 20-hour session. Sixty-seven legislators voted against the “constitutional accusation,” including several members of the opposition while others abstained or were absent.

As in the U.S. and many other nations, a Senate trial follows impeachment and Piñera is unlikely to be removed by the 43-member upper house, where the opposition has only 24 of the 29 votes needed to oust a president.

The Senate deliberations on his fate will occur in the heat of an election campaign to replace him in any case.

The first round of general elections is set for Nov. 21 and Piñera’s term ends on March 11. Chile does not permit presidential reelection to consecutive terms.

The accusation stems from publication of the so-called Pandora Papers, which revealed offshore financial dealings of prominent figures around the world, including Piñera, one of Chile’s wealthiest people.

Myanmar Court Sentences Arrested Politicians To 75-90 Years

By
Zoe Maven
-
0
Myanmar journalist Wa Lone (center) is escorted by police after being sentenced by a court to jail in Yangon on Monday. Foreign governments and human rights groups condemned the decision.

A court in Myanmar sentenced two members of ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s political party to 90 years and 75 years in prison on Tuesday after finding them guilty of corruption.

The sentences appeared to be the most severe so far for any of the dozens of members of Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy who were arrested after the military seized power on Feb. 1.

Former Kayin state planning minister Than Naing was convicted by the state court of six corruption charges and given a 90-year prison term, including labor.

The second defendant, Nan Khin Htwe Myint, aged 67, the former chief minister of Kayin state and a top member of Suu Kyi’s political party, was sentenced to 15 years in prison on each of five charges.

Suu Kyi is also being tried on corruption and other criminal charges that her supporters say were concocted to discredit her and legitimize the military’s seizure of power.

Virtually any conviction would prevent her from running in elections that the military-installed government has promised to hold by 2023.

She was detained by soldiers on Feb. 2 and placed under house arrest, where she made a live-streamed broadcast calling for civil disobedience against the army takeover. She was then arrested on Feb. 8.

Myanmar has been mired in violence and civil unrest since the military seized power. Protesters against the takeover who faced beatings, shootings and arrests have turned increasingly to armed resistance, and insurgents are active in many parts of the country.

UAE FM Visit Signals Arab World Willing To Engage With Syria

By
Zoe Maven
-
0

The foreign minister of the United Arab Emirates has met with Syria’s president strongman Bashar Assad in Damascus on Tuesday.

The visit by Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan is the first by an Emirati foreign minister since Syria’s civil war erupted in 2011. It comes as some Arab countries are improving ties with Syria.

Syria badly needs to boost relations with oil-rich countries as its economy is being strangled by crippling Western sanctions and it faces the task of post-war reconstruction. The UAE is also home to thousands of Syrians who work in the Gulf nation and send money to their relatives at home.

Most Gulf countries, at odds with regional rival Iran, seek warmer ties with Damascus, hoping to peel it away from Tehran. Iran is a traditional ally of Syria and sent advisers and resources to back Assad during the 10-year war.

Syria was expelled from the 22-member Arab League and boycotted by its neighbors after its civil war erupted in 2011. More than 400,000 people have been killed in the conflict which displaced half of Syria’s population. Large parts of Syria have been destroyed and reconstruction would cost tens of billions of dollars.

Arab and Western countries generally blamed Assad for the deadly crackdown on the 2011 protests that evolved into civil war, and supported the opposition in the early days of the conflict.

Lithuania Border In State Of Emergency Over Migrants

By
Zoe Maven
-
0

Lithuania’s parliament has declared a state of emergency at the country’s border with Belarus and at camps hosting migrants who arrived from there, according to a tally of votes.

The state of emergency, which begins at midnight local time (2200 GMT) in the night of Tuesday to Wednesday and is to last a month, allows border guards to use “mental coercion” and “proportional physical violence” to prevent migrants from entering Lithuania.

EU member states accuse Belarus of encouraging illegal migrants from the Middle East, Afghanistan and Africa to cross the border into the EU in revenge for sanctions already slapped on Minsk over human rights abuses.

Lithuania’s declaration bans all travel to within five kilometres of the Belarus border, unless allowed by border guards. Mobile phones could be taken away from migrants and public gatherings near the border and in the camps could be forbidden.

Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte told parliament that the measures would also deter anyone seeking to aid migrants adding that People who live, and work near the border will be able to continue to do so, but people who want to get there,  it will be harder for them to do so.

Lithuania on Monday said it was moving troops to the Belarus border to prepare for a possible influx of migrants.

Victims Of Sierra Leone Blast Buried In Mass Ceremony

By
Zoe Maven
-
0

The bodies of dozens of over 100 victims killed during an explosion in Sierra Leone last week have been buried in a mass ceremony in Waterloo.

The coffins were transported in military trucks from the morgue in the capital Freetown to the cemetery in Waterloo, a neighboring city.

The trucks passed by the site of the explosion, where people stood in in the street to pay their last respects to the victims.

At the cemetery, relatives and workers – dressed in protective clothes to bury the bodies – followed the trucks while crying and covered their faces.

Dozens of coffins were lined up covered with the Sierrra Leone’s flag reading “Rest in Peace”, during the ceremony attended by Sierra Leone President Julius Maadia Bio, and other officials.

In a short speech during the burial Bio said there would be an investigation and called on authorities and society to work together in order to avoid these disasters from happening.

The explosion took place late on Friday when a tanker collided with another truck as it was pulling into a gas station near a busy intersection in Wellington, just east of the capital, according to the National Disaster Management Agency.

According to officials and witnesses, the oil tanker truck exploded, killing more than 100 people and severely injuring dozens of others after large crowds gathered to collect leaking fuel

45 Feet Christmas Tree Standing In Market Place, Derby

By
Angel Gimalo
-
0

A crane has lifted and placed a 45 feet christmas tree in a city, centre ahead of a lights switch-on fronted by singer Simon Webbe.

The tree, which has come from solihull, is now standing in market place, derby.

It will be decorated on monday evening and tuesday ahead of webbe’s appearance on saturday.

Derby City Councillor Ross Mccristal said the authority “Can’t wait to mark the start of the festive season” at the switch-on.

Simon Webbe will take to the stage near the council house at about 17:30 gmt

Ahead of the switch-on, there will be entertainment from about 15:30, which will include a lantern parade, and dance and theatre performances.

Libyans Collect Voter Cards Ahead Of December Elections

By
Zoe Maven
-
0

Millions of Libyans have started collecting their voters card in various electoral commission offices across the country.

Libya on Monday stepped up preparations for landmark elections, opening registration for candidates in presidential and parliamentary polls as the country seeks to move on from a decade of war

Expectations are reportedly high as over 2.8 million of Libya’s seven million residents have registered to vote in the upcoming general elections.

Both presidential and parliamentary elections are slated for December 24, but in early October, parliament split the dates of the vote by postponing legislative elections until January.

However, foreign powers have been pushing hard for both elections to be still held on the same date, as agreed at UN-led talks last year.

Libya’s first-ever direct presidential poll, with a first-round on December 24, is the climax of a process launched last year by the United Nations to draw a line under years of violence since the revolt that toppled dictator Moamer Kadhafi in 2011.

But despite a year of relative peace following a ceasefire between eastern and western camps, the process has been overshadowed by wrangling over the legal basis for the votes and the powers of whoever wins.

That has sparked fears of a return to violence in the event of a contested result.

France Formally Returns Looted Benin Artworks At Ceremony

By
Zoe Maven
-
0

French President Emmanuel Macron has hosted his counterpart from Benin, President Patrice Talon, on to formally seal an agreement to return 26 artworks taken from the former French colony’s Palace of Abomey – today a UNESCO World Heritage site.

The 26 pieces, from a trove of objects snatched by French forces in 1892, were exhibited at the Quai Branly museum in Paris in the run-up to Tuesday’s ceremony.

They will be shipped to the West African country in the coming days.

The decision to return them follows growing calls in Africa for European countries to return the colonial spoils from museums and is also part of a drive by French President Emmanuel Macron to improve his country’s image in Africa, especially among young people.

The treasures are from the kingdom of Dahomey in the south of present-day Benin and include the throne of Dahomey’s last king, Behanzin, as well as three totemic statues, four palace doors, several portable altars and three warrior dance staffs.

The Élysée said Macron’s commitment for Africans to be able see their cultural wealth at home and not just in European museums “marks an important step in building a new relationship between France and Africa”.

Last month, Macron announced that a “talking drum” cherished by Ivory Coast’s Ebrie people, also at the Quai Branly, would be handed back as well.

1...1,9461,9471,948...2,704Page 1,947 of 2,704