The Nation Newspaper

Category: Foreign

  • Media indispensable, critical stakeholders to ECOWAS, says Touray

    Media indispensable, critical stakeholders to ECOWAS, says Touray

    The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Commission has declared that the mass media are indispensable and critical stakeholders, being the gatekeepers and purveyors of information, who create mutual understanding between it and its people.

    ECOWAS Commission President Dr. Omar Touray stated this at the maiden high-level interactive meeting between the commission and heads of government-owned broadcast stations in West Africa yesterday in Abuja.

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    The theme of the two-day event is: “Strategic Engagement With Public Media Actors In Our Member States To Strengthen Collaboration And Positive Coverage Of ECOWAS Programmes And To Combat Disinformation In West Africa.’’

    Touray, represented by the commission’s Director of Cabinet, Abdou Kolley, said the engagement was part of ECOWAS’ efforts at proactively broadening and strengthening collaboration with the media toward achieving a common and shared vision.

    He listed the common and shared vision as inclusive and sustainable development, peace, security, and regional integration, as encapsulated in ECOWAS Vision 2050, especially on the eve of its 50 years of existence.

  • UN Women advocates for greater empowerment, inclusivity

    UN Women advocates for greater empowerment, inclusivity

    The United Nations (UN) Women has called on stakeholders in the private and public sector to promote inclusiveness by ensuring that women have access to financial resources.

    This was the focus of the UN Women and Partners’ Open Day for Southwest, held in Lagos.

    Country Representative to UN Women and ECOWAS, Ms Beatrice Eyong, lamented that only 10 per cent of women in Nigeria have access to financial resources for entrepreneurial development and access to public procurement.

    She also said gender equality was central to the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and Nigeria is lagging behind by 40 per cent.

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    “We are championing moves to empower and better the lot of women because Nigeria will not attain the SDGs if women are behind. We are 60 per cent not being able to achieve the SDGs, though SDG five, which is gender equality, is central to achieving the SDGs.

    “As long as we’re unable to accelerate gender equality we will not be able to accelerate the SDGs, and that’s why we’re here to recognise the fact that we cannot do this job alone. We recognise the fact that we cannot stay in Abuja and do the work, so we’re visiting the six geopolitical zones, this being the third zone that we are visiting,” she said.

  • Over 30 African nations for AWIS 2024 summit

    Over 30 African nations for AWIS 2024 summit

    The Africa Women Impact Summit (AWIS) is set to host representatives from over 30 African countries at its 2024 edition, scheduled to take place on November 9th and 10th at Eko Hotel and Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos.

    The summit, themed: “The Africa We Want 4.0: Sustainable Leadership – Unlocking Women’s Potential”, aims to empower 1,500 women and attract over 5,000 participants from across the continent.

    The two-day event will focus on expanding the African women’s workforce and leveraging the transformative potential of the diaspora for Africa’s growth.

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    Co-Founder of AWIS, Dr. Utchay Odims, emphasised that the summit aims to spotlight women who are making significant impacts both within and beyond Africa, with the goal of inspiring and igniting the next generation of women leaders.

    Dr. Odims said that the conference will bring together prominent dignitaries, including the former Vice President of Liberia, Jewel Cianeh Taylor, and the former President of Mauritius, Ameenah Gurib-Fakim, among other esteemed guests from various African nations.

  • Ex-EU commissioner Barnier named as new French prime minister

    Ex-EU commissioner Barnier named as new French prime minister

    Former EU commissioner and Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier has been named by French President Emmanuel Macron as the country’s next prime minister, the Élysée Palace announced yesterday.

    The appointment comes some two months after a snap parliamentary election called by Macron resulted in a broad left-wing alliance coming out on top.

    But no party or political alliance secured enough seats in the National Assembly, resulting in a hung parliament and weeks of political uncertainty.

    It remains to be seen whether Barnier will be able to form a government with a working majority.

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    The 73-year-old Barnier has a political career spanning decades and is an influential figure in France’s centre-right Republicans party.

    He was environment minister under François Mitterrand, foreign minister under Jacques Chirac and agriculture minister under Nicolas Sarkozy.

    He has worked several times as an EU commissioner.

    He also served as the European Union’s chief Brexit negotiator.

  • Sexual abuse victims in Belgium appeal to Pope Francis for justice

    Sexual abuse victims in Belgium appeal to Pope Francis for justice

    Multiple victims of sexual abuse committed by the Catholic Church in Belgium have called on Pope Francis to recognise their suffering in an open letter published yesterday.

    “Although you have repeatedly taken up this subject with clarity and force of conviction, you have never addressed us, the victims or more precisely the survivors – as a whole,” said the open letter published by local media.

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    “Isn’t it time to send the world this precious missive that so many shattered lives need, often without them even knowing it?” the letter said.

    Published ahead of the Pope’s visit to Belgium later in September, where the pontiff is planning to meet with victims of the Church, the letter by six survivors detailed their demands to the pontiff.

    The victims called on the church to reflect on obligatory celibacy for clerics as “a weakened priest is a man who can drift to the worst.”

  • German Police kill armed man in shootout near museum, Israeli Consulate

    German Police kill armed man in shootout near museum, Israeli Consulate

    Police in Munich, Germany exchanged fire with a man on Thursday, fatally wounding the suspect in an area near a museum on the city’s Nazi-era history and the Israeli Consulate.

    According to a police spokesperson, officers were alerted to a person carrying a “long gun” in the Karolinenplatz area, near downtown Munich, at around 9 a.m. There was then an exchange of shots in which the suspect sustained fatal injuries, but there no was no indication that anyone else was hurt, spokesperson Andreas Franken told reporters.

    There was no immediate information on the suspect’s identity or on any motive, Franken said. The man, who was carrying an old make of firearm with a repeating mechanism, died at the scene. Bavaria’s top security official, state Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann, said the suspect had opened fire at police and they returned fire.

    It was unclear whether the incident was in any way related to the 52nd anniversary Thursday of the attack by Palestinian militants on the Israeli delegation at the 1972 Munich Olympics, which ended with the death of 11 Israeli team members, a West German police officer and five of the assailants.

    Police said there was no evidence of any more suspects connected to the incident. They increased their presence in the city, Germany’s third-biggest, but said they had no indication of incidents at any other locations or of any other suspects.

    Five officers were at the scene at the time the gunfire erupted. Police later deployed to the area in force.

    Israel’s Foreign Ministry said the consulate in Munich was closed when the shooting occurred and that none of its staff had been hurt.

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    The nearby Munich Documentation Center for the History of National Socialism, which opened in 2015 and explores the city’s past as the birthplace of the Nazi movement, also said all of its employees were unharmed.

    Israeli President Isaac Herzog said he spoke with German counterpart Frank-Walter Steinmeier. He wrote on the social media platform X that “together we expressed our shared condemnation and horror” at the shooting.

    Speaking at an unrelated news conference in Berlin, German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser described Thursday’s shooting as “a serious incident” but said she didn’t want to speculate on what had happened.

    She reiterated that “the protection of Jewish and Israeli facilities has the highest priority.”

    Newsnow

  • Nigerians win cash prizes in Korean cooking competition

    Nigerians win cash prizes in Korean cooking competition

    A gospel counselor, Mrs Patience Berepele, emerged winner of the Korean food (Hansik) cooking competition in Abuja and went home with N1m cash prize.

    Victor Mac-Adonai, who came second went home with a cash prize of N700, 000 and Yahya Bindir who came third, took home a cash prize of N400, 000.

    The first edition of ‘Hansik’ (Korean food) Korean cooking contest was organised by the Korea Cultural Centre in Nigeria (KCCN) in Abuja.

    The competition saw nine contestants, including one team of one and eight individuals compete for the top prize.

    The competition featured Korean foods such as Tteokbokki’, Ranyeon, Yukgaejang, Galbitane, Yakgwa, and Rice crackers.

    The winner prepared Ssambap with Bulgogi Ssamjang, accompanied by Doenjang Jjigae with three dishes like rolled omellet (Gyeran Mari), eggplant side dish (Gaji namil), and Bean sprout salad (Sukjulnamal).

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    Berepele said: “Coming to see that I emerged winner is an exciting experience and I sincerely appreciate God for that. I love cooking as well as being passionate about other people’s culture and it has helped me in this contest.

    “When I test a dish, I will be curious about the ingredients used to prepare it. This has really helped me, coupled with the fact that I participated in the classes, but I know that everything happened by the grace of God.”

    She appreciated KCCN for giving Nigerians the opportunity to participate in the contest.

    “I must commend KCCN, it is not easy bringing out such an amount of money they used to prepare us during the cooking classes. They tried to promote Korean culture in Nigeria by ensuring that we prepared a fusion of Nigeria and Korean dishes in the second round of the competition. They also ensured that everybody became abreast with other people’s culture, I am grateful to them.”

    The Ambassador of the Republic of Korea to Nigeria, Kim Pankyu, presented the cheque of one million naira to the winner.

    Pankyu said the embassy was planning to open a Korean restaurant in Abuja for Nigerians yearning for Korean cuisines.

    The envoy said: “Many Nigerians are in love with Korean food, but unfortunately, we don’t have a restaurant in Abuja that makes Korean food. However, we are planning to open a Korean restaurant in Abuja; I don’t know when, but very soon.

    “We want to do this so that Nigerians can enjoy Korean cuisines, and that will further boost the cultural relationship between the two countries.”

    The Director of KCCN, Kim Changki highlighted the success of the Hansik programme in bridging cultural gaps between Nigerians and Koreans through their shared love for food.

    He commended the winners for their enthusiasm and skill in Korean cuisine and announced plans to collaborate with the Association of Professional Chefs in Nigeria to further develop the programme.

  • Somalia understudies Nigeria Data Protection law after 30 years war

    Somalia understudies Nigeria Data Protection law after 30 years war

    Somalia Data Protection Authorities are currently in Nigeria to understudy Nigeria Data Protection Act (Law) to develop its systems for socio-economic growth.

    A delegation of the Data Protection Authorities of Somalia led by Somalia Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. Jamal Mohamed, are currently in talks with the leadership of the Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC).

    Ambassador Mohamed at the head office of NDPC in Abuja, said Nigeria is the only country Somalia could turn to for Data Protection mechanism at the end of 30 years civil war.

    The Ambassador noted that his country was grappling with their developments following the aftermath of the war and would be prepared to collaborate with Nigeria.

    Mohamed urged the delegation of Data Protection officials from his country to pay keen attention to all the nuances of Nigeria Data Protection Act, stating that the solution they needed lied with Nigeria, hence the need for them to ensure that lessons were learnt.

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    “We have resources, longest coastline in Africa, agriculture, farming area, everything is available in Somalia but we need the knowledge, we need the experience of our brothers in Nigeria.

    “We have young civil servants because they are the dynamics who can move Somalia forward,”  Ambassador Mohamed said.

    He stated that it was the policy of the government to avail the young people the opportunity on government institutions so as to recover the years of their inactiveness.

    According to him, most of the government institutions are giving them the opportunity because for 30 years we have been in conflict.

  • Scholz urges firewall against far-right after election win

    Scholz urges firewall against far-right after election win

    German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has urged mainstream parties not to lend support to the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, which won a big victory in the eastern state of Thuringia in Sunday’s regional election.

    The result gives the far right its first win in a state parliament election since World War Two. The AfD also came a close second in Sunday’s other big state election, in the more populous neighbouring state of Saxony.

    The AfD has been designated as right-wing extremist in both Thuringia and Saxony. Björn Höcke, the AfD leader in Thuringia, has previously been fined for using a Nazi slogan, although he denies knowingly doing so.

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     Yesterday, Scholz urged other parties to block the AfD from governing by maintaining a so-called firewall against it.

    “All democratic parties are now called upon to form stable governments without right-wing extremists,” he said, calling the results “bitter” and “worrying”.

    AfD co-leader Alice Weidel said that voters in Thuringia and Saxony had given her party a “very clear mandate to govern”.

  • China should also reclaim land from Russia, says Taiwan president

    China should also reclaim land from Russia, says Taiwan president

    If the Chinese Communist party truly believes it has a territorial claim to Taiwan, then it should also be trying to take back land from Russia, Taiwan’s president, Lai Ching-te, has said.

    Lai made the remark in an interview to local media on Sunday, noting Beijing’s very different approach to two similar historical moments of territorial loss.

    Under the rule of Xi Jinping, the CCP claims Taiwan is a Chinese province run by illegal separatists, and he has vowed to annex Taiwan under what it calls “reunification”.

    Beijing said Taiwan has been part of China since “ancient times” but was taken by Japan during the “century of humiliation”, the period between 1839 and 1949 during which China was repeatedly subject to defeat and subjugation. Complete restoration of China’s losses in that time is a driving narrative of the CCP, and today is largely focused on Taiwan.

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    However, Lai, who was elected president in January, noted that China also lost land to Russia during that period but was not making any effort to take it back. He said this showed Beijing’s plans to annex Taiwan – which it has not ruled out using force to achieve – were not driven by territorial integrity.

     “If it is for the sake of territorial integrity, why doesn’t it take back the lands occupied by Russia that was signed over in the treaty of Aigun? Russia is now at its weakest, right?” he said, referencing a 1858 treaty in which Russia annexed about 1m sq km of Chinese territory, including Haishengwei – today known as Vladivostok.