W.H.O Urges African Nations To Keep Expired Covid Vaccines

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April 23, 2021

The Biden administration is contemplating creating a task force of officials from the U.S. Justice and State Departments and other agencies to help local prosecutors fight corruption in Central America’s Northern Triangle countries.

U.S. special envoy for Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador, Ricardo Zuniga, said the U.S has authority from Congress to craft lists of Central American officials involved in corruption, revoke their travel visas and impose financial sanctions on them.

Zuniga said the task force under consideration would focus on corruption cases and helping prosecutors in those countries move forward. He added it was important for the United States to show that they are on the side of those who are victims of corruption.

He also said the United States was disappointed with the collapse of anti-corruption bodies in Guatemala and Honduras, which he called setbacks to efforts to fight impunity.

Zuniga spoke on Thursday, just days before Vice President Kamala Harris, is due to hold a virtual meeting on Monday with Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei to discuss solutions to the increase in migration to the U.S. border with Mexico.

With apprehensions at the U.S.-Mexican border at their highest level in two decades, Biden is ramping up efforts to ease a humanitarian crisis that has been one of his first major tests.

U.S. officials are trying to ensure that a $4 billion aid package being put together for the region does not fall prey to graft.

Lawyers Representing Zuma Withdraw From Corruption Case

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April 23, 2021

In another blow to former South African President Jacob Zuma, Lawyers representing him and led by Eric Mabuza, have filed a notice seeking to withdraw from the case.

The lawyers did not provide any reason for the withdrawal but the move has further embattled the former South African President after the Supreme Court of Appeal ruled that he was entitled to pay for his legal fee.

The same court later ordered Zuma to pay back an estimated $2 million in lawyers’ charges that he has received over the years from the state.

Zuma is facing 16 charges of fraud, graft, and racketeering relating to the purchase of fighter jets, patrol boats, and military equipment.

He’s being accused of collecting bribes of four million rands in a $3.4-billion arms deal with French aerospace and defense giant Thales in 1999, when he was deputy president.

Zuma is also facing other legal battles, including a pending court judgment on whether he should be jailed for refusing to testify at a state commission of inquiry which is probing graft.

The commission has heard testimony that Zuma allowed members of the controversial Gupta family to influence his cabinet appointments and state contracts in favor of their businesses.

However, Zuma has refused to testify at the commission, where he has been implicated by several witnesses including people who were Cabinet ministers when he was president.

African Presidents Arrive In N’Djamena For Déby’s Funeral

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April 23, 2021

African Leaders are arriving in the Chadian capital N’Djamena ahead of the funeral of the late Chadian president Idriss Déby who reportedly died after sustaining injuries on the front lines against rebels.

The late Chadian President’s funeral is slated for April 23, at the Place de la Nation in the capital which will then move to the Grand Mosque also in N’Djamena before the mortal remains are taken to Amdjarass city for burial

Already, Niger’s President Mohamed Bazoum arrived in the Chadian capital N’Djamena, as has Guinean head of state Alpha Condé and Mali’s interim president Bah Ndaw.

Other heads of state include those of Burkina Faso, as well as Felix Tshisekedi of the Democratic Republic of Congo with more presidents expected to arrive Thursday night and Friday morning.

President Emmanuel Macron of France, the former colonial power, is also attending the ceremony along with a dozen other heads of state and EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell.

The funeral, complete with military honours, is scheduled to take place in the morning in N’Djamena’s main square, La Place de la Nation.

The death of President Déby, who’s been in power for 30 years, has opened a period of uncertainty for Chad which is being threatened by the rebellion and also within the regime.

Chad, with a well respected fighting force, is central to the West’s fight against jihadists in the Sahel, where myriad Islamist extremist groups operate.

A.U Condemns Somalia President’s Term Extension

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April 23, 2021

The African Union’s Peace and Security Council has criticized the extension of the term of Somalia’s President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo following a closed-door meeting in which it also resolved to mediate the crisis.

A communique issued by the council said it was sending a special envoy to Mogadishu to help resolve the political impasse there and urged all parties in the country to immediately resume dialogue on the basis of the September 2020 Agreement.

Part of the resolution stated that the September 2020 Agreement remains the basis and the most feasible path towards holding timely, transparent and credible elections in Somalia.

The AU council called on all Somali political leaders to exercise maximum restraint and refrain from any actions that could further escalate tensions, thereby undermining the stability of Somalia and the continent.

The agreement which was signed by Somalia’s federal government and regional leaders as well as opposition parties, offered a road map to holding free and fair elections.

Last week, President Farmajo approved an extension of his term in office by two years in a controversial move which has been criticized by major world powers like the United States, Britain, the United Nations and the European Union

The AU council also held a closed-door session on the situation in Chad but there was no immediate resolution issued as heads of states began arriving in the country for the burial of President Idris Déby.

French President Emmanuel Macron, Several African heads of state Arrive N’Djamena For Deby

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April 22, 2021

Foreign leaders arrived in Chad on Thursday for the funeral of slain president Idriss Deby as France backed the new military leaders in the face of rebel threats to resume an offensive on the capital N’Djamena.

French President Emmanuel Macron, Guinean President Alpha Conde and several other African heads of state arrived in N’Djamena despite warnings from the rebels that foreign leaders should not attend Friday’s funeral for security reasons.

A military council led by General Mahamat Idriss Deby took power after his father, who had ruled for 30 years and was a close ally of Western powers in the fight against Islamist militants, was killed in battle with the rebels on Monday.

General Deby, 37, has said the army will hold democratic elections in 18 months, but opposition leaders have condemned his takeover as a coup d’etat and an army general said many officers were opposed to the transition plan.

Russia To Launch Own Space Station Into Orbit By 2030

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April 22, 2021

Russia is ready to start building its own space station with the aim of launching it into orbit by 2030 if President Vladimir Putin gives the go-ahead, the head of its Roscosmos space agency said on Wednesday.

The project would mark a new chapter for Russian space exploration and an end to more than two decades of close cooperation with the United States aboard the ageing International Space Station (ISS).

“If in 2030, in accordance with our plans, we can put it into orbit, it will be a colossal breakthrough,” Interfax news agency quoted Roscosmos chief Dmitry Rogozin as saying. “The will is there to take a new step in world manned space exploration.”

Russian cosmonauts have worked with counterparts from the United States and 16 other countries about the ISS since 1998 – one of the closest fields of cooperation between Moscow and Washington, whose relations are currently in deep crisis over human rights, cyberattacks and a range of other issues.

Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Borisov told Russian TV at the weekend that Moscow would give notice to its partners that it would leave the ISS project from 2025.

Rogozin said the Russian station, unlike the ISS, would most likely not be permanently crewed because its orbit path would expose it to higher radiation.

But cosmonauts would visit it and it would also use artificial intelligence and robots.

He said Russia was ready to consider allowing foreign crews to visit, “but the station must be national… If you want to do well, do it yourself.”

Interfax quoted an unnamed source as saying that Russia planned to spend up to $6 billion to get the project launched.

No Casualties Recorded As Rockets Hit Near Baghdad international Airport

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April 22, 2021

At least three rockets landed in the perimeter of Baghdad International Airport late on Thursday, Iraqi security officials said.

The officials said the rockets landed near the area of the airport which houses U.S. forces and there were no reported damages or casualties.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility.

Biden’s $2.3 Trillion Plan Draws Mixed Feelings From Democrats

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April 22, 2021

U.S. Senate Republicans on Thursday proposed a $568 billion, five-year infrastructure package as a counteroffer to President Joe Biden’s sweeping $2.3 trillion plan, calling their measure a good-faith effort toward bipartisan negotiations.

The proposal, which falls below even the range of $600 billion to $800 billion that Republicans floated earlier in the week, focuses narrowly on traditional infrastructure projects and broadband access.

It drew a mixed response from Democrats, who narrowly control both chambers of Congress. Some Democrats dismissed it as inadequate to the task of repairing America’s infrastructure and reliant on user fees that would penalize working people.

The Republican plan would not result in higher taxes but be fully paid for with user fees on electric vehicles and other items, unspent federal funds and possible contributions from state and local governments.

“This is the largest infrastructure investment that Republicans have come forward with,” said Senator Shelley Moore Capito, who has helped lead the effort as top Republican on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee.

“We see this as an offer that’s on the table and deserves a response,” the West Virginia lawmaker told a news conference.

Republicans sent the proposal to Biden on Thursday, before unveiling the package, which represents less than one-quarter of the Democratic president’s plan.

Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer had no immediate comment on the Republican proposal, but told reporters: “Any infrastructure proposal has to be green and cannot be paid for on the backs of working people.”

Biden, who asked Republicans this week to offer a counterproposal by mid-May, proposed an infrastructure plan that includes not only traditional infrastructure projects but seeks to alter the course of the U.S. economy by addressing climate change and expanding human services such as care of the elderly.

CBN Governor Denies Allegation Of Printing Money

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April 22, 2021