Benjamin Netanyahu

Israel on Monday said that people caught breaking new rules to stem the spread of the coronavirus will face much higher fines in the future.

Anyone, who organises an event, party, conference, ceremony, festival, and entertainment and performing arts shows in contravention of the regulations will face a fine of up to 20,000 shekels (5,860 dollars), the governments coronavirus cabinet decided.

This would include the opening of schools.

Some orthodox schools have opened in defiance of anti-virus regulations.

Running a shop without permission could bring a punishment of 10,000 shekels under the new fines, which still need to be approved by parliament.

Coronavirus cases have sunk back down thanks to Israels second national lockdown, which began about a month and a half ago.

On Monday the Health Ministry recorded 652 new cases, compared to more than 9,000 a month earlier. (dpa/NAN)

Source: NAN News

#EndSARS protesters

By Salisu Sani-Idris

African Children Talent Discovery Foundation (ACTDF), an NGO, in Collaboration with Nigerians in Diaspora Mentoring Corp NidMeCorp have began nationwide reconciliatory visits to some states affected by the EndSARS protest.

Founder of the foundation, Mr Noah Dallaji made the disclosure while addressing newsmen on Monday in Abuja,

Dallaji said that the visit was for the sake of nation and collective wellbeing and to avoid further damage to lives and properties.

He said the group visited to Lagos State due to the Lekki Tollgate incidents and met with various groups to find a lasting solution to the issues that were played up as aftermath of the #Endsars protest.

He also said that the group met with stakeholders in the entertainment industry focusing on social media influencers to with various views and opinion on how best to resolve the current situation.

We also met with faith-based leaders and visited places of interest to the #ENDSARS protest. At Lekki toll gate, we saw first hand the damaged gates and also spoke to few security personnel at the place.

This is basically a humanitarian endeavour and is in line with our founding vision, which will also help us to meet witnesses and hear from them.

What they saw, experienced and conversed with available stakeholders, we will share with the relevant authorities.

We are persuaded to speak now as a public spirited organisation to call for an end to further destructive actions by the youths.

We urgently want them to embrace peace towards a true healing of the wounds and national reconciliation.

As NGO, the African Children Talent Discovery Foundation (ACTDF) is very much concerned about the spate and extent of the recent destructions with threats to national peace, cohesion and stability.

Dallaji stated further that the situation as it was currently transcends to calls for action, implementation, and monitoring of the team to make sure the deliverables and or promises are implemented.

He reiterated that the voices of youths have been heard loud and clear as President Muhammadu Buhari stated in his national address.

He urged that a genuine healing and national reconciliation should take position without further delay.

The Mentoring Commandant of Nigerians in Diaspora Mentoring Corp, Alistair Soyode said: we joined and contributed to this initiative as partners for development and want to see all stakeholders, law abiding and descent citizens of Nigeria keying into it.

We only have Nigeria, bless with diverse resources and only us can salvage and make it peaceful for all, habitable and productive.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that other Civil Society Organisations on the initiative includes International Mentoring Corp and ME Foundation. (NAN)

Source: NAN News

#ENDSARS protesters

By Emmanuel Afonne

The Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR) says it will partner the Nigeria Broadcasting Commission (NBC) and other stakeholders to promote democratic principles and ensure national healing following the violence that trailed the EndSARS protests across the nation.

President of the NIPR, Mallam Mukhtar Sirajo, said this in Abuja on Monday when the leadership of the institute paid a courtesy call on the Acting Director General of the NBC, Prof. Armstrong Idachaba.

Sirajo explained that it was the duty of the NBC, NIPR and other stakeholders to promote and protect democracy through the broadcast media and also ensure that the role of media was not abused under any guise.

He therefore urged the media, especially the broadcast industry, to ensure that the ethics of the journalism profession were not trampled upon in the discharge of their duty.

We must guide the professional ethics and mutual trust; the Nigerian broadcast media have not been doing badly.

The role of the media must not be abused and we acknowledge the role of NBC.

And now, as relationship managers seeing this period as a time of national healing, we appeal to the NBC to review the sanctions on AIT, Channels and Arise TV stations in Nigeria.

We want NBC to be partners in deescalating tension, Sirajo said.

He noted that the NIPR as a public relations manager would ensure that the country remained united just as the founding fathers left it, in spite of the bruises associated with the EndSARS protests.

Sirajo added: The #EndSARS protest was a glaring indication of the realities of our existence as a people in Nigeria, and identification of a problem is halfway to solving it.

Worthy of commendation is the governments readiness to engage the protesters and to implement their demands.

The outcome of the protests calls for soul-searching and we must ask ourselves if this is the Nigeria we want to have because in the past, we never asked what tribe or religion one belonged to, to move the country forward.

Responding, Idachaba said the commission would not relent in ensuring that the ethics of the profession were obeyed.

Idachaba noted that his office had organised a series of programmes before the EndSARS protests to remind broadcasting media organisations of their role in ensuring that the countrys democracy was protected.

We will collectively begin to chat about a national agenda.

On the EndSARS protests, NBC organised a lecture on broadcast reform and challenges of covering crisis before the protests, in spite of this, some stations decided to go contrary; and this worried me.

Broadcasters were using footage from social media to buttress their stories and we had no option than to enforce the law after cautioning defaulters.

Even after we fined them, they have continued to speak against the regulator; they should know that we reserve the right to withdraw their licences.

All the action is within the law to regulate the broadcast industry and there is a need for stakeholders like NIPR to engage the broadcast practitioners.

People should learn to live by the provisions of their profession, Idachaba said. (NAN)

Source: NAN News

Ajax players

Ajax Amsterdam will have only 17 players available for Tuesdays UEFA Champions League clash against Midtjylland in Denmark, coach Erik ten Hag confirmed on Monday.

This came to light after several players had to be left behind because of positive COVID-19 tests.

But he said he could not speak about individual cases because of privacy laws.

Skipper Dusan Tadic, goalkeeper Andre Onana and midfielders Davy Klaassen and Ryan Gravenberch were among those who stayed at home.

Back-up goalkeepers Maarten Stekelenburg and Dominik Kotarski also did not travel, leaving the club with just one goalkeeper, Kjell Scherpen, for the match at Herning.

The 20-year-old has yet to debut for the club.

Ajax published a list of the 17 players without comment on their website and Ten Hag avoided questions about those who did not travel when questioned at Mondays pre-match news conference.

The coach said Ajax players were tested on Monday and the club had been in discussion through the day with various authorities about who could travel to Denmark.

He also said he was hopeful some of those left behind might be allowed to travel on Tuesday to join up with the rest of the squad as Ajax look for their first win in Group D.

There are few players who can play in the Netherlands but did not get permission to enter Denmark and its a bit strange, the coach said.

They have no symptoms or complaints. If they might still be able to play rests in the hands of the medical personnel and the authorities. I have strong hope that they can play but I am not sure.

There are a whole lot of different rules between different countries, even within the European Union. The players we have here are good players. Some might have to play out of position but we here are fit and ready to play, he added.

I understand the COVID-19 rules are tough but we must also be thankful that we can play.

Dutch media said that a total of 11 players had tested positive at the club - from both the ranks of the first team as well as the reserve squad.

The reserves compete in the Dutch second division. (Reuters/NAN)

Source: NAN News

Nasir El-Rufai

By Hussaina Yakubu

Gov. Nasir el-Rufai of Kaduna State on Monday described the killing of policemen by protesters in some parts of the country as evil.

El-Rufai, who spoke to newsmen in Kaduna after the meeting of the Northern Governors Forum and traditional rulers as well as other key stakeholders in the region, said that the police must be supported to discharge their duties.

He said that the Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, had briefed the meeting on the #EndSARS protest and its aftermath.

We support the police, we believe that there may be some bad eggs in the police just as there are bad eggs in any organisation, but it is no excuse to destroy or kill policemen.

We hope to expand the footprints and the effectiveness of the Nigerian police in accordance with their mandate.

We have discussed closer collaboration with the Nigerian police and the governors to enhance community policing as a first step, he said.

El-Rufai also said the forum agreed on the need for community policing.

State police is a big subject in the constitutional amendment, at least we agreed on community policing which is the first step.

It is the community police that will transmute into state police when the constitution is amended.

We believe that what is needed now is to restore confidence of the Nigerian police, give them more resources, more training and equipment so that they can do their job better in accordance with the best human right standards, he said.

On the #EndSARS protest, the governor said that the organisers had best of intentions for the country although the movement was hijacked by anti-democratic forces.

We believe that they have best of intentions, but there are people that are pushing their own evil, anti-democratic agenda.

We have taken very clear positions on some of these issues and we also back our road map, looking at various aspects of our lives, including Nigerias economic challenges, developmental and the almajiri problems.

We will be meeting again in February to measure our progress, he added. (NAN)

Source: NAN News

PDP and APC, two major political parties in Nigeria

By Emmanuel Mogbede

The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has said that it will not trade words with the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in its plot to score selfish and insensitive political gains from issues of national security.

Mr Yekini Nabena, the APC Deputy National Publicity Secretary, said this in a statement on Monday in Abuja.

The statement is in reaction to recent comments by the PDP on the swift operation by the United States to rescue its citizens held hostage by some bandits in Nigeria.

The PDP, in an earlier statement by Mr Kola Ologbondiyan, its National Publicity Secretary, said that the development confirmed that the APC-led Federal Government could not secure the territorial integrity of the country.

He also said that the development further confirms that the Buhari-led administration could not arrest the wave of insecurity ravaging parts of the country.

As with the case of Saturdays rescue of a kidnapped American citizen in Nigeria by U.S. Special Forces, combating terrorism and other emerging cross border crimes require international collaborations and assistance when necessary.

We dont expect the PDP to understand this international best practice going by its evil penchant of diverting and sharing counter insurgency funds to its political cronies, Nabena said.

He noted that the PDP could not handle the 2014 abduction of 276 Chibok school girls while claiming a grand political conspiracy against it.

The APC spokesman added that unlike previous PDP governments, the President Muhammadu Buhari-led government was not sleeping on the wheel on serious national concerns. (NAN)

Source: NAN News

Northern governors back social media regulation, Police reform

By Hussaina Yakubu

The Northern Governors Forum on Monday expressed support for the ongoing efforts to regulate the social media in order to check the spread of fake news in the country.

The Forum expressed its support in a communique issued by its Chairman and Governor of Plateau, Mr Simon Lalong, after its meeting in Kaduna with traditional rulers and other key stakeholders in the region.

The meeting, which took note of the devastating effect of the uncontrolled social media in spreading fake news, called for major control mechanisms and censorship of social media practice in Nigeria.

It also expressed support for the reform of the police to strengthen their capacity.

Forum appreciates the major reforms going on in the Police Force and pledges to support Mr. President on this course.

The meeting resolves to support the Nigerian Police Force to serve the country better and calls for the strengthening of trust between the people and the Police, it said.

The Forum set up two committees to push for statutory roles for traditional rulers and engagement with youths and civil society organisations.

The Committee on Roles of Traditional Rulers is headed by the Emir of Lafia, Sidi Bage, with two representatives from the National Assembly and a minister as members.

The Committee on Youth and Civil Society Organisations has the Emir of Zazzau, Ahmad Bamalli, as Chairman

The forum has representative of elders, youths, women and persons with disability as members from each of the three zones.

Others are representatives of Muslim and Christian clerics, business community and police.

These engagement committees are to commence work immediately, it said.

It appreciated the roles traditional rulers played in containing the #End SARS protests in the region, and collectively agreed that traditional rulers be given formal roles in the governance architecture of the country.

The meeting rejected and condemned the subversive acions of some #End SARS protesters and endorsed the indivisibility, indissolubility and oneness of the nation.

It commended the National Assembly and the Presidency for being proactive in addressing the issues of protests across the country.

The governors also called for an amicable resolution of the ASUU strike to enable students resume their studies.

The forum agreed to hold the meeting regularly and expand it to involve other critical stakeholders such as religious leaders, business community and youths leaders.

It appreciated the roles of religious groups, JNI and CAN, for their positive interventions in resolving the #EndSARS conflicts.

The forum called for collective efforts in addressing the lingering challenges of the region, such as the Almajiri system, insecurity, illiteracy and poverty.

The forum also appreciated the youths in curtailing the spread of hooliganism, thuggery and other separatist
tendencies during the #EndSARS protest.

The meeting expressed concern over the low level involvement of relevant stakeholders in the implementation programmes of government and calls on the relevant agencies to review implementation strategies to make maximum impact and benefits, it said.

The meeting was attended by the Senate President, Ahmad Lawal, and Chief of Staff to the President, Prof. Ibrahim Gambari, among other dignitaries.

(NAN)

Source: NAN News

4 positive in latest COVID-19 tests in EPL

The Premier League in England said on Monday that four people have returned positive results in its latest round of COVID-19 tests conducted on players and staff last week.

The league said the individuals who had tested positive for the novel coronavirus would now self-isolate for 10 days.

The Premier League can today confirm that between Monday, Oct. 26 and Sunday, 1,446 players and club staff were tested for COVID-19, the league said in a statement.

Of these, there were four new positive tests.

A total of 48 people have tested positive for the virus in nine rounds of testing since the new league campaign began in September.

The UK government has allowed Premier League football and other elite sports to continue without spectators during the four-week lockdown from Thursday.

There have been more than a million COVID-19 infections and over 46,000 deaths in the UK, according to a Reuters tally.

Source: NAN News

Ryan Giggs Arrested

Wales manager Ryan Giggs has been arrested on suspicion of assault, according to British media reports on Monday.

A report said the police were called to the 46-year-old former Manchester United wingers home on Sunday night after receiving reports of a disturbance.

Police were called at 10:05 p.m. on Sunday to reports of a disturbance. A woman in her 30s sustained minor injuries but did not require any treatment, the report quoted a statement from Greater Manchester Police as saying.

A 46-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of section 47 assault and section 39 common assault.

He was released on bail pending enquiries, the report said.

Greater Manchester Police were not immediately available for comment.

The Welsh football association (FAW) noted the allegations against Giggs.

The FAW is aware of an alleged incident involving the mens national team manager Ryan Giggs, it said in a statement.

The FAW will be making no further comment at this current time.

Wales were due to name their squad on Tuesday for November matches against the U.S., Ireland and Finland but have postponed it, reports said.

Source: NAN News

COVID-19: Ebonyi Govt. slashes EBSUs tuition fees

By Douglas Okoro

The Ebonyi Government on Monday announced a slash in the students tuition fees in the Ebonyi State University (EBSU), Abakaliki.

The review, which took immediate effect, was contained in a statement signed by the Secretary to State Government (SSG), Dr Kenneth Ugbala.

According to the statement, the reduction is aimed at mitigating the hardship caused by the novel Coronavirus pandemic, which affected global and local economies.

Ugbala stated that the governor had graciously approved N20,000 and N10,000 reduction of EBSUs tuition fees for indigenes and non-indigenes, respectively.

He further stated that government was aware of the impact of the pandemic on the world economies of which Ebonyiwas highly affected.

We know that the finances of our people are highly affected, which will in effect, affect the education of our children.

To lessen the burden on parents, especially in catering for the students of EBSU and encourage more of our students to go to university, the governor has approved reduction in school fees for the students.

The reduction is effective from the 2020/2021 academic session and is from Year one to the Fifth year.

All non-indigenes will have their tuition fee reduced by N10,000, while all indegenes in the university will have their fees slashed by N20,000.

This amount will be aggregated and paid directly to EBSUs management sometime in 2021, the statement added.

The SSG further stated that government had earlier released all monthly subventions owed to the university.

He added that additional N200 million salary intervention fund, totalling N500 million, was also released to assist in the payment of staff salaries.

This sacrifice will be affecting some other government programmes, like infrastructure development and provision of medical services, which have become opportunity cost.

We request our young ones to start registering for the 200 youths per Local Government Area to benefit from the #EndSARS Empowerment Fund to be launched in November, Ugbala added.

Source: NAN News