Catholic Prelate Kaigama Laments Biden’s Disregard For ‘Human Dignity’

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February 6, 2021

One of Nigeria’s most influential prelates, Archbishop Ignatius Kaigama has opened up about the spate of clergy kidnappings and murders plaguing the country, the coronavirus, and new US President Joe Biden’s move to increase funding for international abortions.

In an interview with Crux, Archbishop Ignatius Kaigama of Abuja said, “It is intriguing that one of Biden’s first official acts is to promote the destruction of human lives domestically and in developing nations.”

n addition to his comments on Biden, Kaigama also offered a detailed reflection on kidnappings in Nigeria, which he said are mainly rooted in unemployment and political schemes. He criticised what he said is the government’s inability to resolve the problem.

Luno, Binance, Others Suspend Naira Deposits Over FG’s Cryptocurrency Ban

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Emenike Agu

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February 6, 2021

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Montreal, Canada - 28 February 2018: Stacked cryptocurrency coins (Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoins)

Major cryptocurrency companies with massive user base in Nigeria have announced the suspension of naira deposits following the Central Bank of Nigeria’s directive to financial institutions and fintech firms to close all cryptocurremcy related accounts.

Luno, Binance and Bundle are some of the cryptocurrency companies which have made this announcement in separate statements on Friday.

They said they were aware of the circular issued by the Central Bank of Nigeria advising financial institutions in the country to close bank accounts held by cryptocurrency service providers.

They however assured their customers that withdrawals could be made by those interested but could be delayed.

According to Luno, customers’ funds are safe and will keep updating them on all g developments as soon as they are received.

Luno with headquarters in London with regional hubs in Singapore and Cape Town, said, ““Luno will continue to operate as normal while we seek further clarity from the authorities. Some Nnira deposit methods are currently affected, please check the status page for updates. Withdrawals are unaffected and will continue to be processed, but may take longer than usual. All customer funds are completely safe.

“Luno has always worked closely with regulators in Africa and all regions in which we operate, and will continue to do so. Nigeria’s regulators have taken a pragmatic and forward-looking approach to cryptocurrency in the past and we’re confident that this issue can be resolved quickly, so Nigeria can continue to play a central role in the growth of cryptocurrency”, the statement reads.

Binance, a cryptocurrency exchange that provides a platform for trading various cryptocurrencies, has also suspended Nigerian Naira deposit.

Binance stated, “Please note all your funds on Binance.com remain safe and crypto services on Binance.com will continue as normal. However, our NGN payment partners are suspending deposit services until further notice.

“From 7PM (GMT+1) on Feb 5th 2021, Binance will temporarily suspend NGN deposits through our fiat partner channels. Withdrawal services remain normal and will continue to be processed but might take slightly longer time than usual.

“We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause. We will continue to provide further updates as soon as they become available, and we are working closely with all relevant stakeholders. Binance remains committed to supporting the growth of the blockchain ecosystem in Africa.

Bundle said, “Due to the notice, our naira payment partners have decided to suspend crypto-related payments for now, so we have disabled naira deposits until this is resolved. we’re sorry for any inconvenience this may cause you.”

The CBN, in a circular issued on Friday, February 5, warned and reminded local financial institutions against having any transactions in crypto or facilitating payments for crypto exchanges.

The apex bank advised the financial institutions to immediately close the accounts of such persons or entities transacting in or operating cryptocurrency exchanges.

#EndSARS: Lagos Panel Approves Reopening Of Lekki Tollgate

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Emenike Agu

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February 6, 2021

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The Lagos State Judicial Panel of Enquiry and Restitution for Victims of SARS related abuses and other matters has returned control of the Lekki Toll Gate plaza to the Lekki Concession Company (LCC).

The nine-man panel of Inquiry set up by the Lagos State Government to investigate the October 2020 Lekki shooting incident approved the reopening of the Lekki Tollgate on Saturday.

The company, through its counsel, had been praying the panel to allow it to take over the plaza for repair and insurance claims since December 2020.

But the panel said the toll plaza could not be handed over as a forensic expert has been paid by the Lagos state government to examine the toll gate with respect of the October 20 shooting incident.

The prayer of the LCC was answered on Thursday when the panel gave the company access to reopen the toll gate.

The report of the forensic examination, which was meant to be ready on Tuesday, is yet to be disclosed by the panel

Tesla To Recall 36,126 Model S And X Vehicles In China Over Touch-Screen Failures

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Zoe Maven

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February 6, 2021

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Tesla is recalling up to 36,126 of its Model S and Model X vehicles in China over touch-screen failures representing Tesla’s third in China since the fourth quarter of 2020.

According to JL Warren Capital, Tesla’s market share of the “new energy vehicle” category in China, which includes pure battery electrics such as Tesla’s, reached 12% in 2020.

A driver uses the map navigation feature on a touchscreen control panel with the Tesla Motors Inc. 8.0 software update inside a Tesla Model S P90D vehicle.

Christopher Goodney | Bloomberg | Getty Images

A significant Tesla recall in the United States has now extended to China, according to a new regulatory filing from China’s State Administration for Market Regulation.

Tens of thousands of police deployed across India to quash farmers’ protests

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Zoe Maven

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February 6, 2021

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Tens of thousands of police deployed across India on Saturday in a bid to smother threatened new protests by farmers fighting government agriculture reforms.

Ten metro stations were closed in central New Delhi with thousands of police manning barricades and roadblocks at key intersections.

Farmers unions called for protest roadblocks across the country in the latest day of action. Media reported isolated farmers and their supporters occupying roads and toll booths in several states but no trouble.

Tens of thousands of farmers have been camping on the outskirts of Delhi since November calling for a repeal of the reforms that free up farm produce markets.

The farmers say the changes mean the crucial agriculture industry will be taken over by major conglomerates.

After the troubles in the capital on January 26, farmers unions had vowed that any new action would be peaceful.

Outside of Delhi major police deployments were ordered in the key farm states of Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Punjab. Uttar Pradesh police spokesman Atul Srivastava told AFP that here is an adequate deployment of force at sensitive locations around Delhi, promising to ensure there is no law and order issue

95-Year-Old Woman Who Worked As Nazi Concentration Camp Secretary Charged Over 10,000 Murders

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Zoe Maven

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February 6, 2021

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A 95-year-old woman has been charged as an accessory to the murder of 10,000 people because she worked as a secretary at a Nazi concentration camp.

The woman has not been named under German privacy laws but has been partially identified by local media as Irmgard F, a German pensioner living in a retirement home in Pinneberg, north of Hamburg.

From June 1943 and April 1945 she worked as a secretary and typist for the commandant of Stutthof concentration camp, in present day Poland.

She is charged with “assisting those responsible for the systematic killing of Jewish prisoners, Polish partisans and Soviet prisoners of war at the camp”.

Irmgard F told German radio in 2019 that she only learned of the murders at the camp after the end of the war. She claimed she never entered the camp itself and that her office window faced away from the complex.

She testified in German hearings against more senior figures at the camp in the years following the war that she was unaware gas chambers were operating at the camp.

She said she knew that some “executions” took place, but claimed that at the time she believed the victims had committed some crime.

It is not the first time a woman has been charged over the Holocaust, but the decision to bring charges against a former secretary is the latest in a series of recent attempts to widen prosecutions beyond those directly involved in sending prisoners to their deaths.

Around 65,000 people are believed to have been systematically murdered at Stutthof, around 28,000 of them Jewish.

COVID-19: WHO Disqualifies Nigeria From Global Bid For Pfizer-Biontech Vaccine

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Zoe Maven

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February 6, 2021

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The World Health Organisation-led COVAX global initiative has failed to shortlist Nigeria for the Pfizer vaccines.

This followed the country’s inability to meet the standard requirement of being able to store the vaccines at the required -70 degrees Celsius.

The Nigerian Government had stated that it was expected to receive 100,000 doses through the COVAX initiative, which was set up to ensure rapid and equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines for all countries, regardless of income level.

Dr Matshidiso Moeti, the Director, WHO, African Region, while speaking at a virtual press conference, said only four African countries were shortlisted for the Pfizer vaccine out of the 13 that applied.

According to Moeti, WHO could not risk the Pfizer vaccines being wasted.

She said, “Around 320,000 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine have been allocated to four African countries – Cape Verde, Rwanda, South Africa and Tunisia.

This vaccine has received WHO Emergency Use Listing but requires countries to be able to store and distribute doses at minus 70 degrees Celsius.

Meanwhile, Prof Babatunde Salako, the Director-General of the Nigerian Institute of Medical Research, had said that there is not enough space at the moment to store the vaccines at that temperature.

But the Executive Director of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency, Dr Faisal Shuaib, had described the report as fake, saying Nigeria had the capacity to store the vaccines and had taken journalists on a tour of its facility in Abuja.

Protests After Chad’s President Deby Is Nominated For Sixth Term

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Zoe Maven

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February 6, 2021

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Hundreds of protesters called on by the opposition took to the capital N’Djamena after Chad’s ruling party on Saturday endorsed Idriss Deby for a sixth term in the April 11 election.

According to reports, police fired teargas and protesters burned tires while chanting “No to a sixth term!”

Deby has been in power for 30 years, and this development could see him stay for even longer. It was made possible after he pushed through a new constitution in 2018- allowing him to run again.

The 68-year-old former army officer was voted in, in 1990 after he ousted the autocratic leader Hissene Habre.

Deby has been accused of trying to create a monarchy as he closely controls the media and institutions.

But the international community sees him as an essential ally in the fight against Islamist militants in West and Central Africa and one of the largest contributors to the UN peacekeeping mission in Mali.

DR Congo’s President Tshisekedi Becomes African Union Chairman

By

Zoe Maven

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February 6, 2021

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The DRC’s President Félix Tshisekedi has now taken over the helm of the African Union to serve as the chairman for one-year.

He replaces His south African counterpart Cyril Ramaphosa, following the AU’s 34th summit on Saturday.

But Tshisekedi faces big challenges this year with the coronavirus pandemic hitting health service and economies hard.

The continent has so far been hit less hard than other regions, recording 3.5 percent of global virus cases and 4 percent of global deaths, according to the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC).

But many African countries are battling so called second waves while straining to procure sufficient vaccine doses.

African leaders are speaking out against hoarding by rich countries at the expense of poorer ones.

In a recent interview the AU posted online Moussa Faki Mahamat, chairman of the AU’s executive body, the African Union Commission said There is a vaccine nationalism on the rise, with other rich countries jumping the queue, some even pre-ordering more than they require

Vaccine financing is also being discussed at the summit.

Other issues facing the continent are the Nile Dam dispute and conflicts in Ethiopia’s Tigray,the Sahel and the Central African Republic.

‘Danfo’ Going, Going,…Lagos State Government Sets To Phase Out Popular Commuters Bus

By

Emenike Agu

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February 5, 2021

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Lagos State Government says it plans to phase out yellow buses popularly known as Danfo in accordance with its transportation master plan of the state.

The state Commissioner for Transportation, Frederic Oladeinde, disclosed this when he spoke at a virtual forum on Thursday, February 4. Oladeinde said that the busses would be replaced by blue buses.

“We are reforming the bus sector and over time, Lagos will phase out the yellow buses because the yellow buses are not conducive for a mega city like Lagos. That is why we are coming with blue buses you see around.

We are inviting the private sector to participate in the provision of public transport services. We are also deploying technology just to ensure that we can up our game in terms of efficiency.”Oladeinde says.

Oladeinde also disclosed that the state government will be providing hectares of land in Iganmu and Ogun as transit truck parks to help in resolving the protracted Apapa gridlock.

“Lagos State in collaboration with the Nigerian Ports Authority invited a concessionaire and that concessionaire developed an Eto app that will be deployed February 27.

Lagos State has committed 31 hectares of land in Iganmu called the Bola Ahmed Tinubu Truck Park to complement what is at Lilypond and we are talking to the Ogun State Government to secure a land in Ogere.” he said