Once Upon A Time – April 30 – 1789 – George Washington Is Inaugurated As 1st President Of The U.S.

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April 30, 2023

311 Roman Emperor Galerius issues Edict of Toleration, ending persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire

711 Islamic conquest of Iberia: Moorish troops led by Tariq ibn-Ziyad land at Gibraltar to begin their invasion of the Iberian Peninsula (Al-Andalus)

1562 Jean Ribault and colonists arrive in Florida, the first French colonists in North America

1789 George Washington is inaugurated as the first President of the United States of America at Federal Hall in NYC

1859 Charles Dickens’ “A Tale Of Two Cities” is first published in literary periodical “All the Year Round” (weekly installments until Nov 26)

2009 Chrysler automobile company files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy

Historical Events Today Events in 2023
Today in Film & TV
1952 Mr Potato Head is 1st toy advertised on television

Today in Music
1902 Claude Debussy’s only completed opera “Pelléas et Mélisande” premieres in Paris
Today in Sport

2012 Manchester City defeat Manchester United 1-0 in what is claimed to be the biggest match in the English Premier League’s history

MORE FACTS…
1978 World Wide Web (WWW) is first launched in the public domain by CERN scientist Tim Berners-Lee

1888 Moradabad hailstorm: hail stones allegedly as big as oranges kill 246 people and some 1600 sheep and cattle in Moradabad, Uttar Pradesh

Famous Weddings
1290 Joan of Acre (18), daughter of Edward I marries (1) Gilbert de Clare, Duke of Hertford at Westminster Abbey.

1923 Golfer champion Walter Hagen (30) weds Edna Straus at the Hotel Biltmore in New York

1932 Australian Test cricket batsman Don Bradman (23) weds Jessie Martha Menzies at St Paul’s Anglican Church in Burwood, Sydney

Another Fact…
There is no doubt that Adolf Hitler shot himself on this day and that his body was burned by loyal staff. But what happened to his remains is still a mystery – April 30, 1945

Ortom Praises Workers for Their Support, Resilience

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Rhoda Onuzulike

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April 30, 2023

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Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom has expressed appreciation to workers in the state for their unalloyed support and resilience over the years.

Governor Ortom in a solidarity message to workers as they mark the 2023 Workers’ Day said in spite of the harsh economic environment, the workers have “remained undaunted and faithful.”

He noted that the last eight years have been challenging but the workers kept the wheel of the state alive.

Ortom stated, “as we celebrate this year’s workers’ day, I sincerely express my solidarity and appreciation for the hardworking men and women of the Benue State civil servants who keep our economy running and our society functioning smoothly.

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“The past years have been challenging for all of us and I know that many of you have faced difficult circumstances and uncertainties in your workplaces like payment of salaries and other allowances. The situation has been worsened by insecurity in the state. Yet, you have had to adapt to new working conditions and navigate a rapidly changing economic landscape.

“But through it all, you have persevered and shown incredible resilience. Your dedication and commitment to your jobs and our communities are an inspiration to us all.

“This is my last workers day celebration with you as your Governor. I want you to know that I am committed to supporting you and advocating for your rights and well-being no matter what others may feel or say.

“I am therefore proud to stand with you at all times as we work to build a more just and equitable society, where every worker has the opportunity to thrive and succeed.

“So on this workers’ day, I want to say a big thank you. Thank you for your hard work, your dedication, and your unwavering commitment to making our state a better place. You are the backbone of our economy and the heart of our communities, and I am honored to serve as your Governor.”

Enugu Set To Host As Nigerian Air Force Marks 59th anniversary With New War Jets

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Angel Gimalo

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April 30, 2023

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The Nigerian Air Forces has concluded plans to commemorate its 59 years of existence with the induction of two new platforms at the NAF Base, Emene in Enugu State.

The new platforms to be inducted are DA-62, Wing Loong II UAV and CW 40 UAV.

The Chairman Organizing Committee, Nigerian Air Force (NAF) Day celebration 2023, Air Commodore Chukwuedo Illoh made the disclosure while briefing newsmen in Abuja on activities lined up for the celebration.

According to him, the brief was organised to formally inform the general public about the forthcoming NAF 59th anniversary celebration themed “Doctrinal Imperative for Successful Nigerian Air Force Operations.“

Air Commodore Illoh said: “The NAF is relying on the media for timely and accurate reportage of every event marking the NAF Day 2023 Celebration.”

He urged the people of Enugu State not to panic due to the movement of war jets that would be taking part in the event.

He said: “There is no doubt that the Service has grown over the years into a formidable and respected force within the African continent and even beyond.”

He noted that pursuant to its mandate of securing the territorial integrity of the nation through the application of air power, the Service is also determined to ensure a peaceful and progressive country.

According to him, the NAF has also made appreciable progress and significant contributions in the areas of internal security, humanitarian and peace-keeping operations as well as restoration and sustenance of democracy on the African continent.

He noted that it is only rational, therefore, to celebrate its existence as well as the laudable achievements recorded over the year.

He added: “The NAF is a highly technical Service with the fundamental mission of ‘ensuring the integrity of the airspace by gaining and maintaining control of the air while retaining a credible capacity to fulfil other air power tasks demanded by the national defence and security imperatives’.

“To this end, this year’s Theme is aimed at emphasizing and promoting air-mindedness among NAF personnel and ensuring a common frame of reference on the most effective approach to air power employment especially in joint military operations at this critical stage in our Nation’s history.

“Accordingly, to mark this year’s NAF day celebration, a series of activities have been lined up to enlighten the citizens of NAF efforts in the fight against insurgency, terrorism and other forms of criminality within the Country.”

He noted that there will be a series of pre-event activities taking place simultaneously at NAF units across the country.

“These activities include Juma’at prayers and Interdenominational Church Service. The Juma’at prayers will take place today, 28 April 2023 while the Inter-denominational Church service takes place on Sunday, 30 April 2023 respectively.

“There will also be medical outreach to host communities across the country on 2 May 2023.

“Furthermore, the Nigerian Air Force Officers’ Wives Association (NAFOWA) will also embark on humanitarian support activities to some selected communities in the country on 4 May 2023.

“All these are geared towards winning the consent and support as well as appreciating Nigerians for their support and goodwill over the years.”

“There will also be a mini Golf Kitty, which will take place in Enugu on Thursday, 4 May 2023.

According to him, for the first time, this year’s anniversary will also feature a Doctrine Penetration Competition among the 6 Commands of the NAF including Headquarters NAF.

This is scheduled to be held on Thursday, 4 May 2023 in addition to the Pulling out Parade of senior officers who recently retired from the Service after many years of meritorious service to our dear Country.

According to him, there will also be Gala Night. These events will take place on Friday, May 5 2023.

“The activities marking the NAF Day Celebration are expected to end on Saturday, 6 May 2023 with a ceremonial parade, aerial display and induction of new platforms into the NAF Order of Battle.

“The new platforms to be inducted are DA-62, Wing Loong II UAV and CW 40 UAV. Other events lined up to round off the celebration are exhibitions and photo gallery displays.

“The Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, President Muhammadu Buhari is expected to be the Special Guest of Honour at the occasion. He added.

He expressed his gratitude of the Chief of the Air Staff, Air Marshal Oladayo Amao for your usual support towards projecting a favourable image of the NAF.

Masari Begs Katsina Corps Members Not To Redeploy

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Rhoda Onuzulike

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April 30, 2023

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Katsina State Governor, Aminu Masari applauds Corps Members for assisting his Restoration Agenda as NYSC request for more hostel accommodation.

With a few days to the end of his administration, Masari, has appreciated the contributions made by the members of the National Youth Service Corps, NYSC, deployed to the state since 2015 to date as drivers of his Restoration Agenda.

Masari who gave the commendation during the swearing-in ceremony of the 2023 Batch A stream II Corps members deployed to the state for the compulsory 1-year national youth service, challenged them to live up to the standard set by their predecessors and surpass it.

The present Batch A Stream 2 Corps members, will be the last set Governor Aminu Masari will welcome, as he counts the days to the end of his administration, having spent 8 years.

Represented by his Special Adviser on Youth Development and Chairman NYSC Governing Board, Ibrahim Khalil, Masari thanked the corps members posted to the state since 2015 to date, to have assisted in fast-tracking his Restoration Agenda for the state.

The governor further challenged them to shun all social vices, especially with the call for national unity at its peak.

Even with a few days to the end of his administration, Masari promised the corps members to disabuse their minds from redeploying, as the people of the state will ensure a safe and conducive environment, during their service year.

Gombe Govt. Assures 1,203 Corps Members Safety

The Katsina State NYSC Coordinator, Aisha Muhammed, informed the governor, that at the time of the swearing-in ceremony, about 1,131 corp members comprising 598 males and 533 females deployed to the state, were duly registered for the Orientation Course.

She revealed that the figure is likely to hit about 1,600 soon.

She said with the increasing number of corp members deployed to the state, there is an urgent need for the construction of more accommodation and toilet facilities.

Muhammed further said the corps members are already willing to key into the vision of his administration with a high sense of discipline and responsibility.

The ceremony featured the administration of the Oath of Allegiance on the corps members by the Chief Judge of Katsina State, Justice Musa Danladi, among other side attractions to put the corps members at peace.

Teachers Retirement Age: Benue Assembly Passes Bill

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Rhoda Onuzulike

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April 30, 2023

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Benue State House of Assembly has passed into law the bill to harmonise retirement age for teachers in the state.

The Passage followed consideration of the report of the committee of the whole on the bill during Thursday’s plenary.

The law which is to embrace all registered teachers in all public schools in the state raises retirement age of teachers from sixty to sixty five years and service years from thirty five to forty years.

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In a lead debate, Chairman House Standing Committee on Education, Science and Technology, Rt Hon Terkaa Ucha while presenting findings of the committee, said the law covers all registered teachers in the state both in the class room and administrative positions.

Clerk of the House, Barrister Bernard Nule represented by the Director Legislative, Mrs Mercy Nongo accordingly read the bill for the third time.

The Deputy Speaker, Rt Hon Christopher Adaji who presided during the sitting commended members for their useful contributions towards passage of the bill.

US Accuses China of Harassing Philippine Vessels

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Zoe Maven

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April 30, 2023

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The United States has accused China of intimidating and harassing Philippine vessels, asking Beijing to end “provocative” action in the South China Sea.

US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said this in a statement on Saturday, just two days before President Joe Biden is to host his counterpart, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr, in Washington, DC.

The move comes after a recent near-collision between a Chinese vessel and a Philippine Coast Guard boat and the State Department warned that an attack on Philippine security forces or public vessels would trigger a US response.

Miller said the United States stands with their Philippine allies in upholding the rules-based international maritime order and reaffirms that an armed attack in the Pacific, on Philippine armed forces, public vessels, or aircraft, including those of the Coast Guard, would invoke US mutual defense commitments.

The US was responding to a near-miss between Chinese and Philippine vessels off the Spratly Islands which has become the latest in a long string of maritime incidents between the two countries in the South China Sea

The Philippines on Friday accused China’s coast guard of “aggressive tactics” following an incident during a Philippine Coast Guard patrol close to the Philippines-held Second Thomas Shoal in the Spratly archipelago, a flashpoint for previous altercations located 195km off its coast.

The Second Thomas Shoal is home to a small Philippine military contingent on board a rusty World War Two-era US ship that was intentionally grounded in 1999 to reinforce the Philippines’s territorial claims in the South China Sea.

Beijing claims sovereignty over almost the entire South China Sea, ignoring an international ruling that the assertion has no legal basis.

The Chinese foreign ministry said on Friday that the Philippine boats had “intruded” without China’s permission and called it a “premeditated and provocative action”.

But Manila responded, saying that routine patrols in our own waters can be neither premeditated nor provocative and insisted they will continue to conduct the patrols.

Russia’s Wagner Group Threatens Bakhmut Withdrawal

By

Zoe Maven

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April 30, 2023

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The head of Russia’s Wagner mercenary force has threatens to withdraw his troops from the key battle for Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine as casualty rates mount.

In an Interview with Russian military blogger Semyon Pegov published on Saturday, Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin said losses in Bakhmut are five times higher than necessary because of a lack of artillery ammunition

Prigozhin said he has written to Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu asking for ammunition as soon as possible, else they would be forced to either withdraw or die.

He warned that the withdrawal of some fighters from Bakhmut would be likely, meaning that the Russian front line would collapse elsewhere.

In an audio statement published on the Telegram messaging app account of his press service on Saturday evening, the Wagner boss said he had lost 94 fighters due to a lack of ammunition.

The Institute for the Study of War, a Washington, DC-based think tank, reported the Wagner chief as stating that his forces have received 800 of the 4,000 shells per day that they had requested from Russia’s Ministry of Defence.

Prigozhin also said the long-awaited counteroffensive by Ukraine will begin before May 15 and he lamented that Russian forces are not hurrying to prepare for the expected onslaught, according to the institute.

Russian forces have been trying for 10 months to punch their way into the shattered remains of what was once a city of 70,000. The battle of attrition for Bakhmut has become known as the “meat grinder” due to its high casualty rates.

In the meantime, Ukraine’s military authorities say Russian forces have been unable to cut their supply routes to the front-line city.

Serhiy Cherevatyi, a spokesperson for Ukrainian troops in the east, said in an interview with the local news website said the supply of provisions, weapons and ammunition is secured.

He added Ukrainian forces were maintaining their positions along the road and engineers had already laid new roads to Bakhmut.

Uzbekistan Votes On Referendum Term Limit Referendum

By

Zoe Maven

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April 30, 2023

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People in Uzbekistan are voting on a constitutional referendum that could allow President Shavkat Mirziyoyev to extend his rule by 14 years.

Authorities in Uzbekistan said an overhaul of the constitution would improve governance and quality of life in the majority-Muslim country of 35 million people. The government also said the referendum would usher in human rights reforms.

Leading up to the vote, media was heavily controlled in a country where rights have long been heavily restricted.

If Sunday’s referendum passes, presidential terms would be lengthened from five to seven years and thisbwould allow the 65-year-old Mirziyoyev to serve two more terms and extend his time in power until 2040.

The government has gone to some lengths to give the vote a veneer of legitimacy, enrolling local celebrities at large rallies and concerts to praise both the proposals and the president.

Since coming to power in 2016 in the wake of the death of his hardline predecessor Islam Karimov, Mirziyoyev has spearheaded a series of reforms in Uzbekistan, including a clampdown on forced labour in the cotton fields.

But activists said rights abuses persist and authorities have shown no sign of allowing a political opposition to emerge.

In 2022, at least 21 people were killed during demonstrations in the autonomous region of Karakalpakstan. Rights activists accused the authorities of using lethal force against the protesters.

Olivier Ferrando, a researcher at the Catholic University of Lyon in France, said the referendum was a “flagship measure” for Mirziyoyev in his attempt at “emancipation” from the legacy of his predecessor.

Uzbekistan’s population is emerging from a particularly harsh winter marked by fuel shortages and is faced with enduring poverty and endemic corruption.

Despite some economic progress and social improvements, such as the criminalisation of domestic violence, the government brooks no dissent.

During July’s unrest, demonstrations against a constitutional amendment in Karakalpakstan, which would have reduced the autonomy of the vast territory, were put down in a bloody crackdown. Dozens of people were jailed.

Cuba Cancels May Day Parade Due To Fuel Shortages

By

Zoe Maven

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April 30, 2023

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Cuba’s communist government has cancelled Monday’s traditional May Day parade because of acute fuel shortages.

Cuban authorities have traditionally mobilised huge resources to ensure the success of the May Day parade, transporting workers en masse to Havana.

Before this year, the event had only ever been cancelled in 2020 and 2021, because of the Covid pandemic.

Local events are expected to go ahead instead, with people marching on foot.

Ulises Guilarte de Nacimiento, the head of the Workers’ Cuba’s main trade union said on Tuesday such acts would highlight “the obstacles to the development programmes due to the ironclad economic blockade”.

Every year hundreds of thousands of people are bussed in from across the island to fill Havana’s Revolution Square on International Workers’ Day but this first time since the 1959 revolution that the celebrations have been cancelled for economic reasons.

In recent weeks long queues have formed at petrol stations, with drivers often waiting for days and while Cuba has access to low-grade crude, the US-sanctioned island lacks the facilities to process it.

Earlier this month, President Miguel Diaz-Canel said Cuba was only receiving two-thirds of the fuel it needs, adding that suppliers were failing to fulfil contractual obligations.

Deliveries of higher quality crude from Venezuela, Cuba’s largest provider of fuel, have dropped by 50% in recent years and Analysts say Venezuela is experiencing severe problems itself and finds it increasingly difficult to subsidise its socialist ally.

The shortages have added to daily pressures faced by Cubans. According to Spain’s El Pais newspaper, a typical monthly salary is $150-200, while a litre of cooking oil costs $30.

The government insists that its state-driven socialist model is best for the country and blames the problems on longstanding US sanctions.

Mass Exodus From Sudan As Deadly Fighting Enters Third Week

By

Zoe Maven

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April 30, 2023

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UN High Commission for Human Rights says hundreds of thousands of people have fled Sudan in the past two weeks, with thousands remaining trapped in the country.

Tens of thousands of people from the western Darfur region, have crossed the border into Chad while others are trying to reach South Sudan, the Central African Republic, Egypt or Ethiopia, raising fears of vast displacement from a country with 45 million inhabitants.

Despite the latest three-day ceasefire army forces clashed with paramilitaries on Sunday in Sudan’s capital Khartoum as fighting was being reported around the army headquarters in the centre of the city.

The Sudanese army is also carrying out air strikes in the capital’s twin city of Omdurman across the Nile River.

Although countries like Saudi Arabia, France and the United States have managed to repatriate nationals and diplomats back home in recent days, millions of civilians living in Khartoum are caught up in the chaos.

Analysts say without outside help, they risk their lives on the road or stay cloistered in their homes, where they have to endure crippling shortages of water and electricity.

More than 14,000 Sudanese people and a further 2,000 nationals from other countries have crossed into Egypt since the conflict began, according to the country’s government.

Violent battles between the forces of army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and his former number two Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, who commands the paramilitary RSF, have rocked the country since April 15. The deadly clashes have sparked a mass exodus of civilians, the scale of which is still hard to pin down.

Meanwhile, International Organisation for Migration (IOM) spokesperson Eric Mazago told AFP on Thursday that more than 3,500 people have moved southeast into Ethiopia between April 21 and 25.

Another hot spot in the Sudan conflict is the western region of Darfur, still scarred by a war that erupted in 2003. Its capital, El Geneina, has seen a surge in attacks on civilians in recent days.

At least 20,000 people crossed into Chad during the first 10 days of fighting, according to the UNHCR, despite its government closing the border with Sudan at the start of the conflict on April 15.

The country already hosted more than 400,000 Sudanese refugees across 13 camps in local communities, who had fled the 2003 to 2010 genocide.