Mr Boss Mustapha

The Federal Government on Monday extended the Phase II of the eased lockdown by another four weeks with effect from Tuesday June 30.

Mr Boss Mustapha, the chairman of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 and the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) said this on Monday at the daily briefing in Abuja.

I am pleased to inform you that Mr President has carefully considered the 5th Interim Report of the PTF and has accordingly approved.

That with the exception of some modifications to be expatiated upon later, the phase two of the eased lockdown be extended by another four weeks with effect from Tuesday, June 30, Mustapha said.

He stated that this would run through midnight of Monday, July 27, 2020, adding however that the following measures shall either remain in place or come into effect:

Maintaining the current phase of the national response for another four weeks in line with modifications to be expatiated by the National Coordinator;

Permission of movement across state borders only outside curfew hours with effect from July 1, 2020, enforcement of laws around non-pharmaceutical interventions by states.

He added that in particular, the use of face masks in public places would be mandated.

According to him, safe reopening of schools to allow students in graduating classes resume in-person in preparation for examinations.

Safe reopening of domestic aviation services as soon as practicable and publication of revised guidelines around the three thematic areas of general movement, industry, labour and community activities.

He listed others to include provision of technical support for states to mobilise additional resources for the response and strengthening partnerships with States, Local Governments and traditional rulers.

Others are; community, religious leaders and civil society to ensure increased public awareness and compliance with preventive guidelines.

Mustapha said it would encourage state governments to empower Local Government Authorities to intensify contact tracing efforts and ensure stronger grassroots mobilisation to support the response.

He added that it would also encourage states and hospital authorities to ensure continuity of other health services to prevent fatalities from other life-threatening conditions during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The chairman said it was necessary to deepen collaboration with other mandate groups at States and Federal levels to harmonise the countrys COVID-19 response in the short, medium and long terms.

Source: NAN News

Malawi president-elect, Lazarus Chakwera, 65, took the oath of office, on Sunday, following his victory in the Tuesday fresh election.

Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) Chairperson, Justice Chifundo Kachale, declared Chakwera, leader of the Malawi Congress Party (MCP), new Malawi President on Saturday night after a thorough count and scrutiny of the vote from the countrys 28 districts and 5,002 polling centres.

Chakwera, who contested in the Tuesday poll with the countrys Vice President, Saulos Chilima as his running mate, pledged a better government for all Malawians, including those who did not vote for him.

With your help, we will restore a new generations faith in the possibility of having a government that serves, not a government that rules; a government that inspires, not a government that infuriates; a government that listens, not a government that shouts; a government that fights for you not against you, he said.

Chakwera, who was born in the colonial era and raised up in the era of Malawis founding leader, Kamuzu Banda, expressed gratitude for the blessing of growing up in a well-governed Malawi.

He pledged to run the country well to the expectation of all Malawians.

For those who did not vote for him, Chakwera said the new Malawi is for all and he asked for their support.

Give Dr Chilima and I a chance to earn your trust and make this win a win for all of us, that is how we will fulfil a dream of a new and better Malawi for all of us, he said.

Chilima, who was Chakweras running mate in the Tuesday poll, also took the oath of office of the Vice President.

Chakweras party has been out of power since 1994 when Malawians voted out Kamuzu Bandas one-party government and ushered in democracy.

In the Tuesday fresh election, the MCP leader beat incumbent President Peter Mutharika.

A few hours before the official announcement of the fresh poll results, Mutharika held a press briefing where he urged all Malawians to respect the presidency and remain peaceful after the results are announced. (Xinhua/NAN)

Source: NAN News

COVID-19

The number of coronavirus cases confirmed worldwide rose to 10 million on Sunday, according to a tally collated by Johns Hopkins University.

The United States, Brazil and Russia are listed as having the largest number of cases in real terms, with their caseloads recorded as 2.5 million, 1.3 million and 634,000, respectively.

The U.S. has seen its caseload rise at the fastest rate in recent weeks.

The novel coronavirus, which causes a potentially deadly respiratory illness called COVID-19, has affected the vast majority of countries, and responses have varied greatly, depending on national income, health care system and other factors.

As a result, the death toll in relation to the overall caseload has varied greatly from country to country.

Johns Hopkins has recorded just shy of half a million deaths, with the U.S., Brazil and Britain ranking the highest in terms of mortality rate. (dpa/NAN)

Source: NAN News

Taliban fighters

Ten militants were killed as warplanes struck a Taliban gathering in Afghanistans eastern Ghazni province on Sunday, provincial government spokesman, Wahidullah Jumazada, said.

Acting on tip-off, the aircraft struck a gathering of Taliban insurgents in Tawsang village of Dehyak district at 2.30 p.m. local time on Sunday, killing 10 militants on the spot and wounding three others, the spokesman added.

A car and four motorbikes of the insurgents were also destroyed during the air raids, he said.

The security forces also captured six more militants from Ghazni city, the provincial capital and its surrounding areas over the past couple of days.

The Taliban group, which has escalated attacks on Ghazni city over the past week, has yet to make comment on the airstrikes. (Xinhua/NAN)

Source: NAN News

Archbishop Ignatius Kaigama

By Emmanuel Afonne

The Catholic Archbishop of Abuja Archdiocese, His Grace, Rev. Ignatius Kaigama, has appealed to the Federal Government to site agricultural projects on disputed Tiv/Jukun lands to check the rate clashes and killings in the area.

Kaigama made the appeal at the Saint Luke Catholic Parish in Kubwa, Abuja, on Sunday while delivering a homily on the need for Nigerians to show hospitality and love to one another.

He said that the establishment of agricultural projects on the disputed lands would automatically end the crises and foster economic progress, social integration and peaceful coexistence.

The Archbishop regretted that Nigerians that were welcomed in other countries were the same people that tagged one another as foreigners at home.

He said: A man of Kenyan route rose to become the president of United States (U.S.); it can and should happen in Nigeria whereby Nigerians of Southern, Northern, Eastern or Western origin will be greeted well and not given second class treatment because they are different.

According to him, Nigerians should always reflect on how to exhibit hospitality just as Abraham did in the Bible record to the three men that passed through his neighbourhood.

He noted that Abrahams hospitality was the key that opened the womb of his wife Sarah who eventually gave birth to Isaac even when she had grown past the age of childbirth.

If we have the spirit to graciously welcome and support one another and equitably distribute our God given resources, our burdens in Nigeria will become lighter and the violence we witness will be greatly minimised.

Hospitality means that you welcome others with love and dignity because they are made in the image and likeness of God.

It means that if you are a Hausa man from Kano, you can welcome and integrate with respect and love somebody from Enugu or Ibadan or Calabar, and if you are Igbo from Enugu, you do the same to someone from Sokoto, Katsina, Markurdi or Zaria.

A Nigerian should be able to work in a hospitable and safe environment in the North, South, East or West of Nigeria, without suffering discrimination; unfortunately, because of the indigene syndrome, neighbours some times fight dirty.

Nigerians most at times identify their states in terms of tribe and we know that tribes in Nigeria see other tribes as opposition or competitors and so, parochial ethnic interest always prevail rather than the common goal, Kaigama said.

He further said that politicians, religious leaders and most prominent Nigerians were not doing enough to unite Nigerians and as most of them usually become sentimental and almost confrontational when issues affecting their ethnic group are up for discussion.

They have failed the test of hospitality as far as tribe and religion are concerned, he said.

He called on the Tiv and Jukun to shun the jaundiced stereotyped perception of one another and embrace peace to enable them do what they are best known for which are crop and fish farming.

The archbishop urged Nigerians to cultivate the kind of peaceful environment that prophet Isaiah described in the Bible as hospitable climate where the lion can live with the sheep.

Also speaking, Rev. Father Innocent Jooji, Parish Priest of Saint Luke Catholic Church, Kubwa, urged Nigerians to learn to love one another as their living together was by divine providence.

We never applied to be Nigerians or applied to be a Tiv man or Jukun man or any ethnic group but if we see that as a source of division then its unfortunate.

It means we have agenda different from that of God because unity of purpose is very important; united will stand and divided will fall. We need to cooperate and work together, Jooji said.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that social distancing, wearing of face masks and other government directives on safety measures against COVID-19 were observed during the Mass. (NAN)

Source: NAN News

U.S. President Donald Trump

U.S. President Donald Trump tweeted and then deleted a video in which his supporters could be heard repeating a white power slogan, in the latest instance in which the president was accused of inflaming racial tensions.

The phrase is often used by far-right white nationalists and prompted a backlash from within the presidents own Republican Party.

The tweet came as the country is going through an intense national conversation about race and discrimination, in the wake of police violence and the death of George Floyd.

There have been protests around the country for weeks under the BlackLives Matter banner.

The video shows Trump supporters shouting the slogans.

Trump attached a comment saying:Thank you to the great people of The Villages, referring to a retirement community in Florida where the scene was filmed.

Senator Tim Scott, the only black Republican member of the Senate, was quick to denounce the president.

He should not have retweeted it and he should just take it down.

The entire thing was offensive, Scott said onCNN.

The White House later explained the deletion of the tweet, which had been up for nearly four hours, saying the president was unaware of the audio content.

President Trump is a big fan of The Villages. He did not hear the one statement made on the video.

What he did see was tremendous enthusiasm from his many supporters, White House spokesman Judd Deere said in a brief statement.

The president has been accused of worsening racial tensions in the country over the course of his time in the White House, while failing to promote a reconciliation programme.

In recent weeks he pushed for a tough crackdown against the sometimes violent protests against injustice and police brutality. (dpa/NAN)

Source: NAN News

By Ismaila Chafe

President Muhammadu Buhari has congratulated Malawis opposition alliance leader, Lazarus Chakwera, the winner of the countrys presidential election re-run.

The alliance won the re-run five months after the first vote with 58.57 per cent of the total votes as declared by the countrys electoral commission.

Buharis congratulatory message was conveyed by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Malam Garba Shehu, in Abuja on Sunday.

The Nigerian leader said: Greetings from the government and people of Nigeria.

I congratulate you and the alliance on your impressive victory in the elections.

I look forward to working with you for the advancement of peace, security and development of the entire continent.

Source: NAN News

CBN

The apex banks Director of Corporate Communications, Mr Isaac Okorafor, raised this alert in a statement on Sunday in Abuja.

Okorafor said fake messages relating to the banks N50 billion Targeted Credit Facility (TCF) have been posted on the twitter handle with the intent of wooing unsuspecting loan seekers and owners of small-scale businesses to enter into correspondence with the owner of the fake handle.

He, therefore, warned unsuspecting members of the public not to have anything to do with the said twitter handle.

Although the CBN, through the NIRSAL Microfinance Bank (NMFB), has indeed disbursed loans to successful beneficiaries under its COVID-19 Targeted Credit Facility, none of the banks officials engages in direct interactions with prospective or successful applicants.

We, therefore, find it embarrassing that Mr Yusuf has continued to be inundated with personal calls relating to messages from the impostor handle.

For the avoidance of doubt, our Director, Mr Yusuf, does not currently own a twitter handle, he stated.

The director, therefore, enjoined members of the public, particularly households, micro enterprises and owners of small and medium-scale businesses to desist from interacting with the said handle @YusufPhilipYila.

He added that the massages were fake and that anyone, who enters into correspondence with them, does so at his or her own risk.

He advised prospective applicants to approach the NIRSAL Microfinance Bank or CBN branch nearest to them or tweet at @cenbank or @NirsalMFB for clarification on the procedure for accessing the TCF or any of the CBN-related loans.

Source: NAN News

COVID-19 updates by NCDC

By Abujah Racheal
Nigeria on Saturday recorded 779 new cases of COVID-19 as its total infections hit 24,077, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) announced this on its official Twitter handle.

NCDC said that the 684 new confirmed cases were reported in 22 states, with four deaths.

The NCDC said that Lagos reported the highest number of cases with 285 new cases and Rivers was second with 68 new infections.

Among others were FCT (60), Edo (60), Enugu (56), Delta (47), Ebonyi (42), Oyo (41), Kaduna (19), Ogun (18), Ondo (16), Imo (12), Sokoto (11), Borno (9) Nasarawa (8), Abia (5), Gombe (5), Kebbi (5), Kano (4), Yobe (3), Ekiti (3) and Osun (2).

The NCDC said that till date, 24,077 cases have been confirmed, 14,115 active, 8,625 treated and discharged, 127,158 samples collected and 558 deaths recorded in 35 states and the Federal Capital Territory.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the NCDC offered the following guidance to Nigerians on the appropriate use of face masks and face shields:

Face masks are very important in helping to limit the spread of COVID-19, especially in situations where physical distancing may be difficult, such as on public transportation, markets and in areas where there is a significant amount of community transmission.

For effective protection, face shields are used in combination with an appropriate face mask in healthcare settings. There is currently limited no evidence on the effectiveness of face shields to prevent COVID-19 when used alone by the general public in non-healthcare settings.

There is currently no guidance provided by the WHO or other relevant public health authority that recommends the use of face shields in non-healthcare settings to prevent COVID-19, it said.

The health agency said that given the limited evidence on the effectiveness of face shields in protecting people from COVID-19 infection in community settings, and the absence of recommendations on their use, by WHO and other public health authorities, face shields alone should not be used in preventing the spread of the COVID-19 infection.

It said that when used, it should be done in combination with an appropriate face mask.

The agency said that it was important to remember that currently, no single intervention even when properly used, provides complete protection from COVID-19 infection.

NCDC, therefore, said that the use of face masks or face shields with face masks should be combined with other public health and social measures as announced by the Federal and State Ministries of Health and the NCDC.

This includes maintaining a distance of two metres between you and the next person, frequent handwashing with soap and running water or use of an alcohol-based hand sanitizer and avoiding public gatherings.

The NCDC will continue to update its recommendations as knowledge about COVID-19 evolves, it said.

Source: NAN News

Mr Babatunde Irukera, DG FCCPC

By Ginika Okoye

The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) says the collaboration of all regulatory agencies will guarantee a vibrant consumer protection activities in the country.

Mr Babatunde Irukera, the Director-General of the commission, made the call when he featured on the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) forum in Abuja on Sunday.

Irukera noted that the poor regulatory alignment was one of the commissions greatest challenges in ensuring effective consumer protection.

The greatest challenge that I have experienced there is regulatory alignment.

It is gaining the appropriate alignment with other regulators as far as prioritising consumer protection because almost every other regulator is technical in their space and my position is that consumer protection is not ancillaries.

It is not a department, it is the focus. It is the whole core and the point of whatever these businesses are. So getting that alignment to prioritise it above everything else; its being time taking.

It is almost like in a marriage, if children see that mum and dad are not on the same page about something, they will exploit the crack.

But you see that it is changing because they are now seeing that the regulators are now talking a little more. I understand my space, I understand the law.

But the lack of it does not incapacitate us to the point that consumers are so exposed that we are unable to do anything, he explained.

Irukera who noted that the commission had in 2019, received over 30,000 complaints bothering on consumer protection through its automated system, said they were resolving issues as they came.

The director-general said that the system had helped the commission to improve on its data gathering.

He said the commission had filed criminal charges against supermarkets and pharmacies, adding that impunity was the only direction people would travel without an appropriate policies implementation. (NAN)

Source: NAN News

Mr Babatunde Irukera FCCPC,

By Mustapha Sumaila

The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) says the Chinese restaurant known for exclusive and discriminatory service in Lagos remained shut.

The FCCPC Director General, Mr Babatunde Irukera, disclosed this when he appeared on the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) forum in Abuja.

Irukera said if a place was shut down in this manner, there was process to follow for such to be re-opened for business.

He stated that though the owners of the restaurant had started the process but could not complete it due to the lockdown occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic.

He added that one of the guidelines of lockdown in Lagos was that, people no longer sit in a restaurant but could only order for food and take away.

The director general emphasised that one of the key issues with reopening was that there must be some commitments from the restaurant to operate with new protocols.

He said that the restaurant would only all whenever these protocols were adhered to and certified by the commission.

Recalling the operation that led to the shutdown, Irukera disclosed that why we shut down the restaurant, we got a credible intelligence that the restaurant was discriminatory and will not serve Nigerians.

We performed a sting operation where our own operatives went in there to be served and I was one of the operatives as a matter of fact.

I went there and I was turned away because I wasnt a South-East Asian and what we did was to shut down the place, he explained. (NAN)

Source: NAN News

FCCPC-DG-Babatunde-Irukera-and-Ag-MD-NAN-Biola-Lawal-in-Abuja

By Ginika Okoye

The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) says the commission will protect the interests of people especially minors in its enforcement of the National Tobacco Control Act.

The Director-General of the commission, Mr Babatunde Irukera, who stated this at the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) forum in Abuja on Sunday, said the commission was sensitive to the plight of minors whose family members were involved in the habit of smoking.

I firmly believe that I have a responsibility to protect the choices people make. And so, even smokers are consumers who warrant some level of protection. However, I think the science is very clear.

There is global consensus about the risks to health pre-associated with tobacco consumption and so, I always say that even the smokers, and we have the responsibility to protect and must make sure that they are engaging in the habit based on an informed decision.

And their own liberties and prerogatives and discretion end where it potentially infringes the rights of others and the science is also very clear that second hand tobacco smoke is harmful.

We will make sure that they engage in the habit in a manner that does not endanger others in the society including members of their families because minors are involved. We owe more sensitive responsibility to make sure that even children of smokers are protected from the potential harm associated with their parents choices, he said.

Irukera noted that the commission would soon commence its enforcement on the sale of sticks of cigarette which was one of the key access control measures.

He said that the delay on the enforcement was to ensure that producers, importers and distributors of the cigarettes, distributed their products in a way that was not in violation of the law.

The director-general, who disclosed that the commission had improved its enforcement drive, called on citizens to demand and insist on their rights and involve the regulator in the event of abuse.

According to him, the most important thing I think people need to know is that the services you pay for or the things you pay for are not a favour.

Service providers and those who sell things to you owe you an obligation, he said. (NAN)

Source: NAN News

Tuberculosis

By Abujah Racheal
Institute of Human Virology Nigeria (IHVN) and the National Tuberculosis and Leprosy Control Programme (NTBLCP) launched a mobile application for screening and notification of TB cases by private health care providers.

The Chief Executive Officer of IHVN, Dr Patrick Dakum, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja, that the application Mobile Application for Tuberculosis Screening (MATS) launched this month, was a game changer.

Dakum said that MATS would help in tracing and treating more tuberculosis cases in the country.

He added that the application would also make provision for real-time and online information on progress made by private-for-profit facilities, faith-based organisations, patent medicine vendors, community pharmacists, private laboratories and other TB referral entities.

According to him, the application is already being used in Edo, Delta, Cross River, Akwa Ibom, Benue, Oyo, Ondo, Osun, Ogun, Kogi, Niger, Sokoto, Plateau, Nasarawa, Kaduna, Anambra, Enugu, Rivers, Imo and Abia states.

He said since the launch of MATS on June 1, 2020, there has been an increase in TB screening and linkage between facility and community-based units.

More than 19,000 people have been screened, resulting in the identification of 1,286 TB presumptive individuals and 52 confirmed TB cases on treatment, he noted.

The IHVN boss explained that individuals who visited private health providers in the communities were screened with standard TB symptom checklist on the app.

He added that appropriate referral of clients or samples for diagnosis and treatment had been initiated and private health providers can download the app from Google Play Store or via a web link, register as a user and start using the app once activated by a TB treatment facility.

All screening data from referral entities can be viewed on the treatment facilitys dashboard and a summary on the mobile app, he stated.

Dakum noted that the private sector in the country contributed 14 per cent of the total national TB case notifications in 2019.

He said it was expected that the MATS app would contribute to the actualisation of the goal of the grant which aimed to improve public private sector contribution to the national TB case notification from 11 per cent in 2017 to 35 per cent in 2020.

Meanwhile, the NTBLCP Monitoring and Evaluation Manager, Dr Obioma Chijioke-Akaniro, told NAN that the app simply showed the efforts directed toward finding tuberculosis cases.

The simplicity of MATS makes it attractive to the private sector, especially as they may not oblige to filling cumbersome tools, he said.

He said that MATS would be continually upgraded based on feedback from users.

He explained that the application was developed and redesigned by PharmAccess to suit the peculiarities of private health providers in line with the national algorithm for TB screening and diagnosis.

The upgrade and deployment of the application was implemented by IHVN, under the Public Private Mix (PPM) grant funded by the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, he added. (NAN)

AIR/CHOM/HA

Source: NAN News

Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama

The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, says 317 stranded Nigerians, who departed London on Sunday are expected to arrive in Nigeria following a successful evacuation.

Onyeama made this known via his official twitter handle @GeoffreyOnyeama on Sunday while giving an update on the evacuation of stranded Nigerians abroad amid the coronavirus pandemic.

@flyairpeace evacuation flight APK 7801 from Heathrow Airport, London, just departed with 317 passengers including 9 infants, after several hours of delay due to operational reasons.

The combined flights to Abuja from Lagos will first land at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja to disembark 175 passengers before proceeding to the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos with the remaining 142 passengers.

All evacuees will proceed on the mandatory 14 days self-isolation stipulated by NCDCgov and Fmohnigeria, he twitted.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Nigerian High Commission in London has scheduled July 13 for the next phase of evacuation.

Source: NAN News

The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) says it is tracking 250 constituency projects in Kwara.

According to a statement issued by the commissions spokesperson, Rasheedat Okoduwa, the tracking exercise is under the second phase of the constituency and executive projects tracking exercise in 16 states of the federation.

The commission said the projects executed between 2015 and 2019 was valuedat N4.1 billion and spread across the three senatorial districts of the state.

The exercise was scheduled to commence on Tuesday, June 23, 2020 in 16 states, namely: Cross River, Taraba, Ekiti, Ogun, Gombe, Nasarawa, Kebbi, Kwara, Jigawa, Abia, Delta, Ebonyi, Niger, Rivers, Oyo and Kaduna.

It will focus on the following sectors: Health, Education, Water Resources, Agriculture, and Power, the statement read.

It added that the objectives of the tracking exercise was to investigate fraudulent procurement practices in the award of contracts for constituency and executive projects.

We also want to make recoveries on projects or contracts confirmed to have been inflated or in which contractors under-performed or did not perform at all and track contracting companies for all statutory compliance.

The commission had in 2019 launched the pilot phase of the exercise in which it tracked projects performance from 2015 to 2019 in 12 states.

Successes of the exercise included the recoveries of tractors, ambulances, dialysis machines and other hospital equipment from sponsors of the projects across the pilot states.

There was also the recovery of huge sums of money, hundreds of tricycles, grinding machines and other empowerment items from the project sponsors.

Furthermore, the exercise forced contractors who hitherto had abandoned projects to return to site to complete them.

ICPC is again set to take the exercise to states not covered in the pilot phase with the aim of ensuring that government got value in the execution of public projects and improved delivery of social welfare services to the citizens, the statement added.

It said the exercise would be carried out in collaboration with the Nigerian Institute of Quantity Surveyors, Civil Society Organisations, media, Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation, Bureau of Public Procurement and other stakeholders.

Some of the projects inspected during the teams first outing on Friday included solar street lights on Edun, Isale Aluko, Pakata Adeta road, Oloje Alfayaya road, Popo-Giwa and Oloje Estate in Ilorin.

Source: NAN News

United Nations

By Harrison Arubu

The United Nations (UN) says it has launched investigation into a viral video showing a couple apparently having sex in one of its official cars in Israel.

Spokesman of the Secretary-General, Mr Stephane Dujarric, told UN correspondents in New York on Friday that the organisation was shocked and deeply disturbed by the footage.

Dujarric confirmed that the video featured a 44 vehicle, containing personnel likely assigned to the UN Truce Supervision Organisation (UNTSO).

The short video shows a woman in a red dress straddling a man in the back seat of the white SUV bearing the UN inscription.

With them in the moving vehicle are the driver and a bald-head man sitting on the passenger side in front.

Media reports say the footage was recorded on HaYarkon Street, a major thoroughfare in Tel Aviv, the Israeli capital, although the UN said its authenticity had not been confirmed.

Dujarric said: We are shocked and deeply disturbed by what is seen on the video.

The behaviour seen in it is abhorrent and goes against everything that we stand for and have been working to achieve in terms of fighting misconduct by UN staff.

We became aware of the video a little bit more than two days ago and our colleagues in the Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) were immediately activated.

Their investigation I know is moving very quickly. We know the location of the incident and the identification of individuals in the video, who are likely assigned to the UNTSO, is close to being completed.

As part of the UNs commitment to transparency, the UN will provide updates on the conclusion of the investigation, and any further action.

According to the organisation, UNTSO, headquartered in Jerusalem, is the first ever peacekeeping mission established by the UN in 1948.

It says the mission comprises military observers to monitor ceasefires, supervise armistice agreements and prevent military escalation.

In a statement, UNTSO said it was committed to the UNs zero-tolerance policy against any kind of misconduct, including sexual exploitation and abuse.

It reminded its personnel of their obligations to the UN Code of Conduct.

The BBC quoted Ms Heather Barr, Co-director of the womens rights division of Human Rights Watchs, as saying the video did not come to her as a surprise.

Barr, who according to the news outlet had worked for the UN in Burundi and Afghanistan, said the UN had a bigger problem than the video.

That problem is about allegations of sexual exploitation and abuse committed by staff members of the UN, she told the medium.

NAN recalls that the UN received and investigated 175 allegations of sexual exploitation and abuse against its staff in 2019.

Out of the total, 16 were substantiated, 15 were unsubstantiated and all others were still being investigated.

Source: NAN News

By Constance Imasuen

Electricity Distribution Companies (DisCos) have appealed to the Federal Government to intervene in gas pricing for power generation to ensure effective service delivery.

Mr Sunday Oduntan, the Executive Director Research and Advocacy, Associationof Nigerian Electricity Distributors (ANED), made the call in a statement in Abuja on Saturday.

Oduntan said that the cost of gas remained one of the key determinants of the electricity tariff in Nigeria, adding that it is high time the government found a way to helping bring down the price in the interest of the sustainability of the power sector.

Most of Nigerias power generating plants are thermal plants. They use gas as their fuel and as long as the price of gas is high, the cost of generation and the eventual tariff to the end user will also be high.

At present, the energy generation mix is around 80 per cent thermal and 20 per cent hydro.

Moreso, the cost of gas is also affected by fluctuations in Foriegn Exchange (Forex). So while the cost of gas and generation will rise due to forex fluctuations, the tariff is fixed in Naira and may not account for this difference.

Especially because of the absence of a commitment to adhering to periodic tariff reviews, he said.

Oduntan said that as at today, the price of gas for local power production was a little over three dollars for one million British Thermal Units (mmbtu), whereas the cost at which LNG was exporting gas was less than half the same amount.

He said that some International Gas Companies (IOCs) were still flaring much-needed gas into the atmosphere, and that there were several options available to the government to make electricity more affordable.

This cost of gas presently accounts for almost 70 per cent of all the input the plants utilise to generate power.

Except we begin to consider solutions from that angle, we may not make much headway in providing the cheap electricity Nigerians need to move the country to an industrial giant, he said.

Oduntan noted that the absence of a market-reflective tariff had continued to bedevil the sector and had contributed majorly to much of the N1.5 trillion liquidity gap in the sector.

He said that with effect from July 1, a new performance-driven increased tariff structure would be implemented as a step towards narrowing the liquidity gap.

If the cost of the major input in any production process is reduced, it will have a ripple effect across the entire chain.

That is what we are advocating for. It will be in the interest of the end users and by implication, the Nigerian economy as a whole, he said.

Source: NAN News

Argentina

The overwhelming majority of infections are occurring in and around the capital, Fernandez said, adding that time was needed to ease the rhythm of infections and guarantee that all Argentinians get the (health) care they deserve.

Argentina has confirmed 52,457 Covid-19 cases and 1,167 deaths, after a rapid increase over the past 20 days.

The capital has remained under quarantine while more restrictions have been relaxed in other areas.

Only essential economic activities will be allowed in the Buenos Aires area and those working at such jobs will need permits to go out, local media quoted Fernandez as saying.

Isolate yourselves again at home and only go out to buy supplies, the president said.

The pandemic hit South Americas second-largest economy when it was already in a deep economic crisis.

The government will increase economic aid to the most affected parts of Buenos Aires, the national news agency Telam and news portal Infobae quoted Fernandez as saying.

The economy deteriorates, but it recovers. But we shall never recover the 1,000 Argentinians who have left us, the president said in a reference to coronavirus deaths. (dpa/NAN)

Source: NAN News

President Xi Jinping

All 17 of the the locally transmitted new cases were reported in the capital, according to the latest figures from the national health authorities.

Four imported cases were also reported in Guangdong, Gansu, and Shanghai.

The uptick in new cases in Beijing goes against predictions byNational Health Commission expert Wu Hao.

After just nine new cases were reported on Monday he said that the situation had reached a calm and that new cases would either remain in the single digits or precipitously dropthis week.

A total of 299 new COVID-19 cases have been confirmed in Beijing since a local cluster was traced back to the sprawling Xinfadi wholesale market in the citys south-western Fengtai district on June 11.

Since then the capital has taken drastic steps to contain the outbreak, conducting mass testing, closing schools, putting neighbourhoods on lockdown, and banning all unnecessary travel.

On Friday the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CCDC) confirmed that the strain of the virus sweeping through Beijing is not the same as the one found in the initial epicentre of the pandemic, Wuhan, in late 2019.

The CCDC also ruled out the possibility of zoonotic transmissionlike in Wuhan, where the virus first jumped from an animal host into humans at theHuanan Seafood Wholesale Market.

According to the CCDCs top epidemiologist Wu Zunyou, the Beijing strain is similar to Europes, but was not necessarily transmitted directly from European countries. (dpa/NAN)

Source: NAN News

U.S. Mexican Border Wall

said the power of the purse belongs to, and the administration lacked constitutional authority to transfer the military money.

Two Democratic appointees were in the majority. An appointee of Presidentdissented.

The President has long supported the construction of a border wall on the southern border betweenand, Chief 9th Circuit Judge, a Clinton appointee, wrote for the court in one of two decisions on the issue.

Since the President took office in 2017, however,has repeatedly declined to provide the amount of funding requested by the President.

Thelast year blocked an injunction against the use of military funding for the wall from going forward. Fridays decision reinstated it.

, a lawyer for the, said thes early refusal to allow the injunction to remain was an ominous signal.

The centre has a separate challenge pending against the administrations use of military funds for the project. (tca/dpa/NAN)

Source: NAN News