Israel is set to ease restrictions imposed to combat coronavirus on June 1, but tough rules on travellers to the Jewish state would remain in place, the health ministry said Sunday.
The health ministry proposal must still be approved by the government.
“For the first time since the outbreak of the epidemic, all restrictions inside Israeli territory will be lifted from June 1,” a ministry statement said.
Restrictions on travellers to Israel will remain in place, with the ministry even considering tightening measures to prevent virus variants entering the country.
During the worst period of the pandemic, Israel recorded around 10,000 new cases of Covid-19 per day, but in the past 24 hours, only 12 people tested positive.
Israel launched a rapid vaccination campaign in December, with more than five million people receiving two doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech jab.
The fall in cases has allowed the authorities to reopen restaurants, bars and sports halls, but only for people with a “green passport”, given to those who have been vaccinated or have recovered from Covid-19.
The new rules will allow the entire population — including unvaccinated people — open access.
Since mid-April, wearing a mask is no longer required in public spaces, but is on public transport and in enclosed places.
The wearing of a mask will initially remain compulsory in enclosed places.
Israel has officially recorded over 839,000 Covid-19 cases, including 6,404 deaths, since the pandemic began.
European Union leaders will discuss toughening their sanctions regime against Belarus on Monday at their planned summit, after Minsk diverted a passenger flight and arrested an opposition activist.
European Council president Charles Michel said: “I condemn in the strongest possible terms the forced landing of a Ryanair flight in Minsk, Belarus, on 23 May 2021 and the reported detention by Belarusian authorities of journalist Raman Protasevich.
“I call on Belarus authorities to immediately release the detained passenger and to fully guarantee his rights. EU leaders will discuss this unprecedented incident tomorrow during the European Council. The incident will not remain without consequences.”
Brussels decided in February to extend until 28 February 2022 the sanctions imposed on President Alexander Lukashenko and regime insiders involved in the crackdown on protests against Belarus’ 2020 presidential election.
Earlier this month, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell warned that these measures could again be tightened, if EU member states could agree, and on Sunday many reacted with fury to Belarus’ decision to divert the jet.
The plane, a Ryanair flight from Greece to Lithuania, has been allowed to continue to Vilnius, but Belarusian opposition activist Roman Protasevich is reported to have been taken off in Minsk and detained.
Monday’s EU summit in Brussels was pre-planned, but Michel’s spokesman Barend Leyts confirmed that the Belarus question would come up and “that possible sanctions will be discussed at this occasion”.
President Joe Biden said Friday there has been no shift in his commitment to Israel’s security, but insisted a two-state solution that includes a state for Palestinians remains “the only answer” to that conflict.
Biden spoke at a White House news conference on the first full day of a cease-fire after 11 days of Israeli-Hamas fighting that killed well over 200 people, most of them Palestinians in Gaza.
Biden, speaking at the end of a visit by the president of South Korea, also played down the idea that the newly ended fighting had opened a rift among Democrats, as scores of Democrats split with Biden’s “quiet diplomacy” with ally Israel to publicly demand a cease-fire.
“My party still supports Israel,” Biden said. “Let’s get something straight here,” he added. “Until the region says unequivocally they acknowledge the right of Israel to exist as an independent Jewish state, there will be no peace.”
Italian teenager Benedetta Pilato set a new world record for the 50m breaststroke in the semi-finals of the European Swimming Championships on Saturday.
The 16-year-old clocked 29.30 seconds to better the previous best of 29.40sec set by American Lilly King in 2017.
Pilato won world silver in the event behind King in Gwangju, South Korea, in 2019.
The 50m breaststroke, unlike backstroke and butterfly over the same distance, is not a race included in the Olympic Games.
There was excitement in Toungo, the home town of a former vice president of Nigeria, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, over the commissioning of an electricity project by the Governor of Adamawa State, Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri.
Toungo, the headquarters of Toungo Local Government Area located in the Adamawa South Senatorial zone, shares an international boundary with the Republic of Cameroon and had been without electricity since its creation as a local government area 25 years ago.
Fintiri had promised to electrify the local government if elected during his electioneering campaign in 2019 which saw the award and successful execution of the project that was commissioned on Friday.
During the commissioning of the project, a former deputy Governor of the state, Senator Bello Tukur, scored Fintiri’s administration high, rating him among the best performing Governors in the country.
Senator Tukur noted that the Toungo electrification project is now a reality as God had used Fintiri to deliver the area from the neglect of past administrations.
Speaking at the event, Governor Fintiri explained that the commissioning was the first phase which is a 33kv mainline from Ganye Tee Junction to Toungo linked to the YEDC’s main station with 11kv low tension in Gamu with installed transformers and distribution lines.
He reiterated that the second phase is the one from Toungo to Kirri which has already seen ninety per cent poles erections, adding that it would soon be commission.
He attributed the delay in the execution of the project to the initial underrating of the quantum of work required by his administration, coupled with the economic impact of COVID-19.
Speaker of Adamawa State House of Assembly, Alhaji Aminu Iya Abbas, expressed excitements for the electrification project, saying that the state legislature would continue to work in unison with the executive for the betterment of the state.
In his remarks, Chairman Toungo local government council, Kefas Calvin, said the area had been in total blackout for 25 years and lauded the governor for salvaging the people of Toungo.
REMARKS BY HIS EXCELLENCY, PROF. YEMI OSINBAJO, SAN, GCON, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA AT THE NATIONAL PRAYER BREAKFAST EVENT THEMED: THE BIRTH OF A NEW NATION, AT NAF CONFERENCE CENTRE, KADO, ABUJ.
PROTOCOLS
I bless the name of the Lord for this prayer breakfast meeting dedicated to the prophetic birthing of a new nation. And I thank the organizers the Coalition of Intercessors, and the Christian Association of Nigeria, and in particular, our leader and father of the Nigerian Prays Movement, General Yakubu Gowon, for the kind invitation and for his continuous commitment and dedication to this nation from his youth, when he was Head of State when he led the fight to keep Nigeria one, to his later years as an elder statesman where his well-seasoned words uttered in Godly wisdom have counseled our nation’s leaders for decades.
The theme of this prayer breakfast “The Birth of a New Nation”, is an important one. It comes at a time of great travail and tribulation for the nation. In the throes of a pandemic for well over a year, leading to a severe economic downturn, loss of jobs and livelihoods, and as we climbed out of the recession, we have been faced with an unprecedented scale of insecurity, in different zones of the nation. But for us who are gathered here today, children of God, we see the invisible we know that every time that a nation where the children of God live is challenged, it is God’s call to His people to take action, it is an opportunity for God to demonstrate that He is God over the Nations, that He is the creator of the heavens and the earth, that He knows the beginning from the end.
But God also wants us to know that He has ordained us to speak concerning the things that we want to see. Most of us are familiar with the scripture in Jeremiah 1:9-10:
“9 Then the LORD put forth His hand and touched my mouth, and the LORD said to me: “Behold, I have put My words in your mouth. See, I have this day set you over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out and to pull down, to destroy and to throw down, to build and to plant.”
Everywhere you look in scripture, the destiny of nations is in the hands of his children from Zerubbabel to Nehemiah, we see ordinary men and women building nations at the direction of God and by prophetic action.
Permit me to ground my remarks in a particular story in 2 Kings 2:19-22: “19 Then the men of the city said to Elisha, “Please notice, the situation of this city is pleasant, as my lord sees; but the water is bad, and the ground barren.” 20 And he said, “Bring me a new bowl and put salt in it.” So, they brought it to him. 21 Then he went out to the source of the water, and cast in the salt there, and said, “Thus says the LORD: ‘I have healed this water; from it, there shall be no more death or barrenness” 22. So, the water remains healed to this day, according to the word of Elisha which he spoke.”
So, scripture has consistently shown us that children of God are central to the birth of a new nation, the rebirth of Nations. They must desire the change, they must cry to God, be ready to make the sacrifice of repentance
In this story, the men of the city told the prophet of God Elisha – see this our city is a nice, pleasant prosperous place, but we cannot enjoy this our community because the water is bad, life is unsafe, and the ground is barren. They did not go to an expert on environmental disasters or politicians, they went to God. God directed His prophet who asked for a fresh, new bowl, put salt in it and went to the source of the water, the root of the problem, and poured in the salt, and God spoke. I have healed this water; from it, there shall be no more death or barrenness, and so it shall be for our nation in Jesus’ name.
Let us unpack some aspects of the story, salt is crucial to the birth of a new nation. Matthew 5:13 – “You are the salt of the earth.” So, the salt is actually the children of God. As far as God is concerned, the responsibility for birthing the nation belongs to those who are called by His name which is why He said in 2 Chronicles 7:14: “If my people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”
The word of God does not agree with logic or with our thinking. God is saying here that it is not the nation that repents. It is His own people who are called upon to repent and turn from their evil ways.
As we are the salt, we are also the light. The light ends the darkness, it marks the end of the night of weeping and marks the glorious sunlight of the morning of joy.
The pouring of the salt into the source of the water, the source of the problem is the prophetic act we perform today. We the salt are also poured today by prayer and prophecy into the source of our nation’s problems.
As we pray and prophecy, a new nation will be birthed, one where like the city to which Elisha went, the land was healed, the people prospered and peace and joy prevailed.
I speak these words also to our nation, “Thus says the LORD: ‘I have healed this water; from it, there shall be no more death or barrenness.’
And after the healing of the land, we are told in verse 22, that the water remains healed to this day, according to the word of Elisha which he spoke. We say the same words for our nation as well that there is a birthing of a new nation, and the nation has already been birthed. There is no question about it.
The way God reveals things depending on who it is can be in pictures, forms or visions. From my bedroom, I can see Aso Rock clearly, but there are times when it is completely covered by clouds, such that if I open my window, I cannot see it at all. As a matter of fact, if I had come into that room on a day when I didn’t know that the rock was there, I would have assumed that there was no rock, big as the rock is.
That metaphor is the same for our nation; the new nation is birthed already but covered by a cloud, but the cloud will clear and God Almighty will take all of the glory for the birthing of this nation.
Super Falcons and Barcelona striker Asisat Oshoala has been voted the greatest Nigerian female player of all time, Completesports.com reports.
Oshoala was announced as the greatest female player to emerge from Nigeria after the conclusion of a poll published on CAF’s women’s verified Twitter handle.
She beat off competition from legendary Nigerian female stars Mercy Akide, Perpetual Nkwocha and Cynthia Uwak.
After the conclusion of the polls, Oshoala got 53 per cent, Nkwocha was second with 31 per cent, Akide with 14 per cent and Uwak with just one per cent.
Oshoala was part of the Barcelona side that clinched a first ever UEFA Women’s Champions League title.
She came on in the second half in the 4-0 win against Chelsea in Gothenburg, Sweden.
She had earlier helped her Spanish club win the country’s women’s topflight.
Preliminary talks on Somali’s impending elections began Saturday as leaders of this Horn of African nation met in Mogadishu to discuss an election that has faced postponement.
Somali’s Prime Minister and leaders of the five semi-autonomous states, including mayor of Mogadishu have been discussing ways of easing tensions in the country.
Issues to be tabled for deliberations include the composition of the electoral commission and that of security. It is still not clear what the duration of these preliminary discussions will be.
However, News correspondents have been told that the finalization of the organization of the elections, including date for the vote, will be known on a yet to be announced second meeting date.
Delays in holding an election in Somalia had sparked one of the worst political crisis in recent years in the country.
In mid-April, the mandate of President Mohammed Abdullahi Mohammed, known as Farmajo was extended by two more years.That expired on February 8 and with no elections in sight, tensions continue to mount.
In early May, Farmajo tasked Prime Minister Mohamed Hussein Roble with organizing elections as soon as possible. Roble called for a meeting of political leaders on May 20 to “finalize” the organization of the presidential and parliamentary elections.
The 2017 election of President Farmajo had raised high hopes among the population, as they saw him as a leader concerned with fighting corruption, and to crush the Islamist Shebab militia.
The Italian Minister of Defense has met with government officials and Italian military personnel in Mali and Niger to discuss strengthening Italy’s position in a region riddled with challenges.
Lorenzo Guerini travelled to the West African nations on Wednesday and Thursday, where he talked about the threat of different terrorist groups, the illegal trafficking of drugs, weapons and humans often directed to Europe.
Guerini also stressed the need for Italy to fight together with Europe to stabilise the region of Sahel adding that more needs to be done to support the area, not only in matters of security, but in economic and social development.
Italian troops who are part of European Union and UN missions based in Bamako also met with Guerini and the Italian Ambassador to Mali Umberto De Vito.
Niger, Burkina Faso and Mali are battling the spread of deadly extremist violence from groups linked to al-Qaida and the Islamic State group.
The increasing violence has killed thousands of people and displaced hundreds of thousands despite the presence of regional and international troops.
In Niger, hundreds of civilians have already been killed this year.In January, at least 100 people were killed in Niger’s western villages of Tchombangou and Zaroumdareye.
In March, a series of attacks on villages near Niger’s troubled border with Mali left at least 137 people dead in the deadliest violence to strike the West African nation.
The head of the French armed forces has criticised a UN report which blamed his troops for killing 19 civilians in an air strike on a wedding in Mali.
Gen François Lecointre is quoted in an interview with the French newspaper Le Figaro as saying the report had errors and bias and was designed to turn the local population against France.
In the interview Gen Francois Lecointre described as “erroneous and biased” the recent United Nations report blaming his troops for killing civilians at the January wedding.
Gen Lecointre also said in the interview with Le Figaro that he believed Europe would still be fighting Islamist extremism in the Sahel in 10 years’ time, and European forces would be more deeply involved than they are now.
He said without such engagement, the Sahel would become a “zone of chaos” with destabilising illegal migration to Europe “out of control”.
France has 5,100 troops across the Sahel region which are fighting militants tied to al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group.
The UN investigation found that there were about 100 civilians at the site of the strike and five were armed people, thought to be members of a jihadist group affiliated to al-Qaeda.
But Gen Lecointre said the report was an attack on the legitimacy of French military presence in the region. France’s defence ministry, the French military and Mali’s government have backed the army’s account of the attack which says they targeted jihadists in a planned and targeted operation against an armed terrorist group while denying there was a wedding.
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