BERLIN — World football ruling body FIFA has suspended the national federations of Pakistan and Chad with immediate effect. FIFA said on Wednesday the decision to suspend the Chadian football association (FTFA) was taken because of interference by the country’s government authorities in the federation’s affairs. “The suspension will be lifted once the relevant government decisions have been repealed and the FTFA and its management have confirmed to FIFA that the FTFA premises are again...
Days ahead of Easter and two weeks before Ramadan, the World Health Organization (WHO) on Wednesday, cautioned against crowded indoor celebrations that would trigger a fresh surge in COVID-19 infections. WHO in a statement said, “In countries experiencing widespread community transmission of the virus, virtual meetings, postponing or reducing such gatherings should be seriously considered.” The statement further added, “Regardless of location, any religious service should be held outdoors wherever possible or be limited in...
ASABA — Nigeria is to host the ninth Near East and Africa Regional (NEAR) Congress of the Medical Women’s International Association (MWIA) from March 24 to March 27, 2021, in Abuja, after 21 years. Dr. Minimim Oseji, the National President of, Medical Women’s Association of Nigeria (MWAN), disclosed this in a statement issued, on Sunday, in Asaba, and made it available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN). Oseji, who noted that the last time...
TOKYO — The U.S. dollar clung to small gains on Tuesday as caution reigned in currency markets, ahead of major central bank meetings. The meeting begins with a two-day Federal Reserve gathering due to start later in the global day. The greenback hovered just off its highest since June versus the yen and cemented a position around $1.19 per euro in muted trading. The firmer tone for the dollar came despite a retreat in U.S....
The first batch of 5,000 Nigerian refugees has been handed over to Borno State Governor, Prof. Babagana Zulum by the Cameroonian Minister for Territorial Administration, Paul Atanga Nji. The returnees were part of thousands of Nigerians, mostly from Borno, who since 2014, fled in batches to Minawao camp located in Mokolo, far north region of Cameroon following onslaught on their communities by Boko Haram insurgents. The repatriation was to implement the outcome of a tripartite...
A Parish court has declared Nicolas Sarkozy, France’s former president, guilty of the corruption charges against him. The court also found him guilty of “influence peddling”, sentencing him to one year in prison and a two-year suspended sentence. The 66-year-old who served as president from 2007 to 2012, was convicted on Monday for having tried to illegally obtain information from a senior magistrate in 2014 about a legal action in which he was involved. According...
The United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) has expressed concern over the abduction of over 300 students at the Government Girls Secondary School, Jangebe in Talata Mafara Local Government Area of Zamfara State. It described abduction as “a gross violation of children’s rights.” The UNICEF country representative in Nigeria, Peter Hawkins, in a statement on Friday, condemned the attack which took place in North West Nigeria. The statement added that the school attack is coming a...
Facebook said on Thursday that it has banned all remaining accounts linked to the Myanmar military, citing the junta use of deadly force against anti-coup demonstrators. The move, which takes effect immediately, applies to the military and entities under the control of the armed forces on both Facebook and Instagram. It added that “military-linked commercial entities” were also banned from advertising on the platforms. “Events since the February 1 coup, including deadly violence, have precipitated...
The British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Catriona Laing, on Wednesday, joined the #BeLikeNgoziChallenge, a social media challenge which has been trending online since the beginning of the week. The challenge has attracted has attracted great attention recently with the historic emergence of Nigeria’s pride, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, as the Director-General of the World Trade Organization. Okonjo-Iweala, a Nigerian development economist, is known for her African print Ankara wears and peculiar headgear usually tilted...
by John Campbell Culled from The Council on Foreign Relations When Robert Azevedo stepped down last year from the post of director general of the World Trade Organization (WTO), the trade body’s top leadership position, former Nigerian Finance Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala quickly became the universal favorite to land the job—except for among members of the Trump administration. Because the WTO operates on the basis of consensus, the Trump administration’s opposition effectively vetoed her in favor of the current South Korean Trade...
