The Nation Newspaper

Category: Foreign

  • 200 Chinese firms show interest in Nigeria

    200 Chinese firms show interest in Nigeria

    No fewer than 200 Chinese companies have shown interest in the Nigerian economy.

    The China and Nigeria held a Business event in Beijing, China pulled over 200 Chinese companies indicating a strong into in the Nigerian economy.

    The forum which was held on Friday, June 21, in the Chinese capital, was part of activities to welcome Nigeria’s Foreign Affairs Minister, Ambassador Yusuf Tuggar to the Asian country.

    Tuggar, according to a statement by his media aide, Alkasim Abdulkadir, is on an official working visit to the People’s Republic of China at the invitation of his Chinese counterpart, Mr. Wang Yi.

    The event he stated, aimed to facilitate increased bilateral trade and investment, and foster business match-making to deepen economic ties between Nigeria and China.

    He further stated that the Minister who arrived in China on June 19th delivered a keynote address at the China-Nigeria Business Exchange event. The event, jointly organised by the Nigerian Embassy and Yingke Law Firm, was designed to ease increased bilateral trade and investment, and foster business matchmaking to deepen economic ties between Nigeria and China.

    “Amb. Tuggar emphasized the importance of the longstanding relationship between Nigeria and China, highlighting mutual respect and shared developmental goals.

    “He pointed out the critical role of such business exchanges in driving economic growth and diversification, stating “This event is a testament to our commitment to strengthening Nigeria-China relations. By fostering direct business engagements, we are paving the way for increased bilateral trade, investment opportunities, and innovative collaborations that will benefit both nations.

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    “Over 200 Chinese companies took part in the event, showing a strong interest in fostering economic collaboration between the two nations.”

    As part of his working visit, Amb. Tuggar will take part in several high-level meetings and events, including the inaugural Plenary Session of the Nigeria-China Intergovernmental Committee in Beijing and the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting of the New Champions in Dalian.

    “These engagements are expected to further solidify the strategic partnership between Nigeria and China. He is also expected to meet with ECOWAS Ambassadors as well as launch the 4D Cultural Diplomacy Programme of the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu at the Embassy of Nigeria.

    “Similarly, the visit is aimed at deepening economic and trade collaboration, enhancing high-level exchanges, and strengthening mutual support at multilateral for a. Some of the outcomes from the visit include advancing Nigeria’s development drive, boosting infrastructure development, improving healthcare and educational systems, stimulating job creation and economic opportunities, Implementing Bilateral Agreements, increasing trade volume and diversification, attracting foreign direct investment (FDI) and promoting entrepreneurship and strengthening industrial capabilities and competitiveness.”

    Key Nigerian dignitaries and business leaders were in attendance including Aisha Rimi, Managing Director/CEO of Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC), Khalil Suleiman Halilu, Executive Vice Chairman/CEO, National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI), Oluwaseun Fakuade, Commissioner for Innovation, Science, and Digital Economy, represented the Governor Ekiti State, H.E. Abiodun Abayomi Oyebanji.

    Other participants included key private sector leaders including Dr. Adegboyega Oluwarotimi Austen-Peters, Chairman, Dorman Long Engineering Ltd, Bolanle Austen-Peters, Founder/Artistic Director, Terra Academy for The Arts (TAFTA), Bruce Ayonote, CEO, Suburban Fiber Company, Tunde Hassan-Odukale, Group CEO, Leadway Holdings, Olusegun Alebiosu, Managing Director/CEO, First Bank of Nigeria Limited, Jawad Saleh Mustapha, Renecon Energy Ltd.

  • Mob kills man in Pakistan over blasphemy allegation

    Mob kills man in Pakistan over blasphemy allegation

    A mob in Pakistan has killed a man over alleged desecration of the Quran.

    The incident took place in Madyan, a popular hill station in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, north-western Pakistan, according to local media.

    Hundreds of men stormed and vandalised a police station where the man was kept after he was handed over by the locals.

    Videos of the incident circulating on social media showed scores of men beating and then torching the body of the man.

    A police spokesman, Mr Wajid Rasool, said that the man accused of blasphemy was a tourist from the Sialkot district of the Punjab.

    “We have started investigations into the incident and are tracing those who attacked the police station,” he said.

    Blasphemy is a sensitive topic in Pakistan, and those accused can become targets of extremist Muslim vigilante groups.

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    In some cases, they have been gunned down, burned alive or bludgeoned to death.

    In May, a mob vandalised a Christan neighborhood in Sargodha and tortured a man over an allegation of blasphemy.

    The man died in a hospital some weeks later.

    In one of such incidents in 2020, a Pakistani-U.S. citizen was shot and killed inside a courtroom during his trial.

    (dpa/NAN) 

  • Ukraine says over 52,000 troops trained by EU

    Ukraine says over 52,000 troops trained by EU

    Over 52,000 Ukrainian troops have been trained under the European Union Military Assistance Mission (EUMAM), local media reported on Friday.

    Ukrainian soldiers, sergeants and officers have participated in the training programme, according to the country’s defense ministry.

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    Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Oleksandr Balanutsa urged the EU to extend the training mission as the Ukrainian army is forming new brigades.

    The two-year EUMAM was launched on Nov. 15, 2022.

    The mission includes training on demining, medical assistance, maintenance and repair, among others, and is conducted on the EU’s soil.

    (Xinhua/NAN) 

  • Historic flooding in south China kills 47

    Historic flooding in south China kills 47

    At least 47 people have died as downpours in southern China’s Guangdong province caused historic flooding and slides, state media reported Friday.

    State broadcaster CCTV said Friday afternoon that another 38 people were confirmed dead in Meizhou city, adding to nine others previously reported dead in the same city.

    Nine people died and six are missing after downpours caused historic flooding in rural parts of Guangdong province in southern China, while authorities warned Friday of more flooding ahead in other parts of the country.

    Four people died and four are missing, in Meixian district in Guangdong’s Meizhou city, state broadcaster CCTV reported Thursday night. Another five are dead in Jiaoling county, which is also in Meizhou.

    The heaviest rains were from Sunday into Tuesday, toppling trees and collapsing homes. A road leading to Meixian district completely collapsed during the heavy rains. The Songyuan river, which winds through Meizhou, experienced its biggest recorded flood, according to CCTV.

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    The estimated direct economic loss is 3.65 billion yuan ($502 million) in Jiaoling county, while in Meixian district, the loss is 1.06 billion yuan ($146 million).

    Other parts of the country also face torrential rains and extreme weather in the next 24 hours, with the National Meteorological Center issuing a warning for several provinces in the south and a few individual places in the north.

    Last week, it was southern Fujian and Guangxi provinces experienced landslides and flooding amid heavy rain. One student died in Guangxi after falling into a river swollen from the downpour.

    Newsnow

  • Philippines, Nigeria share mutually beneficial relations, says envoy

    Philippines, Nigeria share mutually beneficial relations, says envoy

    The Philippines Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. Mersole Mellejor, said both countries shared mutually beneficial relations, especially in trade and people-to-people partnerships since 1962.

    The envoy said this at the diplomatic reception held to mark the 126th Anniversary of the Philippines’ Independence on Wednesday in Abuja.

    The ambassador said the occasion was symbolic of strengthening relations between Nigeria and the Philippines for more than six decades.

    According to him, although the countries may be located on two different continents, with no fewer than 18 hours of flight time between them, relations between the two have been robust.

    “Since the establishment of diplomatic ties in 1962, the two countries have signed bilateral agreements and are in the process of concluding more, to generate concrete mutually beneficial outcomes.

    “At the political level, the Philippines and Nigeria have a regular Joint Commission Meeting between our respective Ministries of Foreign Affairs.

    “This year, we are resuming to hold another edition. The joint commission meeting was suspended due to the Coronavirus pandemic.

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    “We have a respectable level of bilateral trade reaching more than a million US dollars at its highest in 2020 and a steady flow of tourists from both sides.

    “The most concrete manifestation of our relations has always been our people. At its peak before the global financial crisis in 2009, there were an estimated 8,000 Filipinos in Nigeria.”

    “Mostly professionals in various capacities, in the oil and industrial states, factories in many parts of Nigeria, and more importantly, in the services sectors.

    “Now, estimated to be around 3,000, the number is rising again as we emerge from the global pandemic. We certainly thank Nigeria for welcoming and hosting our nationals,’’ Mellejor said

    Speaking on educational exchange, Mellejor said the Philippines had hosted more than 10,000 Nigerians studying in various higher institutions in his country.

    On governance, he said, “There are many areas in which both countries can work continually to strengthen democratic governance and law enforcement.

    “Meanwhile, the Philippines hosts some 10,000 Nigerians, the majority of whom are studying in various tertiary institutions in the country.

    “I was told that the number was even higher in the 90’s. The graduates even have an association here in Nigeria called the Philippine Graduates in Nigeria, or PHILGRAN.

  • World leaders launch $1b programme to boost vaccine production in Africa

    World leaders launch $1b programme to boost vaccine production in Africa

    • AU chief lauds initiative

    French President Emmanuel Macron has joined several African leaders to kick off a planned $1.1 billion project to accelerate vaccine production in Africa, after the COVID-19 pandemic exposed inequalities in access to inoculation.

    The launch of the African Vaccine Manufacturing Accelerator at an event in Paris yesterday will provide financial incentives to boost local vaccine manufacturing in the continent.

    African Union Commission chief Moussa Faki Mahamat welcomed the initiative, saying that it “could become a catalyst for promoting the pharmaceutical industry in Africa and fostering collaboration between member states”.

    Africa imports “99 percent of its vaccines at an exorbitant cost”, he said.

    Macron said the programme “will be an essential step towards a genuine African vaccine market”.

    The European Union said the bloc and its member states will contribute $800m to the vaccine manufacturing scheme. It said the programme will offset start-up costs and ensure demand for vaccines made in Africa.

    “Importantly, it will also support the sustainable growth of Africa’s manufacturing base and contribute to the African Union’s ambition to produce most vaccines required by African countries on the continent,” the EU said in a statement.

    Many African leaders and advocacy groups say Africa was unfairly locked out of access to COVID-19 treatment tools, vaccines and testing equipment — which many richer countries bought up in huge quantities — after the pandemic was declared in 2020.

    Helen Rees, Executive Director of Wits RHI at the University of the Witwatersrand, said the COVID pandemic revealed the lack of equity in access to vaccines.

    “By the time we got really good access to vaccines here [in Africa], many countries had already experienced COVID outbreaks, many people had immunity from natural infection. The impact of the vaccines was much less here simply because we got them too late,” she told Al Jazeera.

    “COVID started a dialogue about access to vaccines, medicines and diagnostics – everything you need to control outbreaks and to stop vaccine-preventable diseases. And that dialogue is centred around equity and how we increase access in the African region.”

    The World Health Organization (WHO) and advocacy groups want to help Africa better prepare for the next pandemic, which many health experts say is inevitable.

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    “There is no doubt that the delays in reaching low-income countries and communities with vaccines cost lives,” WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Thursday. “We cannot allow the same thing to happen next time. And there will be a next time.”

    When the coronavirus pandemic began, South Africa was the only country in the continent with any ability to produce vaccines, officials say, and Africa produced a tiny fraction of all vaccines worldwide.

    WHO failed in its efforts to help countries agree to a “pandemic treaty” – to improve preparedness and response to pandemics – before its annual meeting last month.

    The project was shelved largely due to disagreements over sharing information about pathogens that cause epidemics and the high-tech tools used to fight them.

    Negotiators will resume work on the treaty in hopes of clinching a deal by the next WHO annual meeting in 2025.

  • WHO warns against falsified medicines for diabetes treatment, weight loss

    WHO warns against falsified medicines for diabetes treatment, weight loss

    The World Health Organisation (WHO) has issued a medical product alert on falsified semaglutides, the type of medicines that are used for treatment of type 2 diabetes and obesity in some countries.

    WHO made this known yesterday in a statement.

    It said that the alert addressed three falsified batches of product of semaglutide class of medicines (of specific brand Ozempic).

    It said the medicines have been detected in Brazil in October 2023, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in October 2023, and the United States of America in December 2023.

    “WHO Global Surveillance and Monitoring System (GSMS), has been observing increased reports on falsified semaglutide products in all geographical regions since 2022.

    “This is the first official notice issued by WHO after confirmation of some of the reports,” it said.

    Dr. Yukiko Nakatani, WHO Assistant Director-General for Essential Medicines and Health Products, said that WHO advised healthcare professionals, regulatory authorities and the public to be aware of these falsified batches of medicines.

    Nakatani called on stakeholders to stop any usage of suspicious medicines and report to relevant authorities.

    “The semaglutides, including the specific brand product that has been falsified, are prescribed to people with type 2 diabetes in order to lower their blood sugar levels.

    “Semaglutides also reduce the risk of cardiovascular events.

    “Most semaglutide products must be injected under the skin on a weekly basis but they are also available as tablets taken by mouth daily,” she said.

    According to her, these medicines are shown to suppress appetite in addition to lowering blood sugar levels, and therefore are being increasingly prescribed for weight loss in some countries.

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    She said that WHO has been observing increased demand for these medicines as well as reports on falsification.

    “These falsified products could have harmful effects to people’s health; if the products don’t have the necessary raw components, falsified medicines can lead to health complications resulting from unmanaged blood glucose levels or weight.

    “In other cases, another undeclared active ingredient may be contained in the injection device, for example,  insulin, leading to an unpredictable range of health risks or complications,” she said.

    Nakatani said that semaglutides were not part of WHO-recommended treatments for diabetes management due to their current high cost.

    She said that the cost barrier made these products unsuitable for a public health approach, which aimed to ensure the widest possible access to medicines at the population level.

    According to her, it also strikes a balance between the best-established standard of care and what is feasible on a large scale in resource-limited settings.

  • Climate Change makes U.S., Mexico heatwave 35 times more likely

    Climate Change makes U.S., Mexico heatwave 35 times more likely

    Human-induced climate change made recent extreme heat in the U.S. south-west, Mexico and Central America around 35 times more likely, scientists say.

    The World Weather Attribution (WWA) group studied excess heat between May and early June, when the U.S. heatwave was concentrated in south-west states, including California, Nevada and Arizona.

    Extreme temperatures in Mexico also claimed lives during the period.

    Such attribution studies take some time to complete, so it is too soon for scientists to say how much of a role climate change is playing in the current heatwave stretching from the centre of the US through to the north-east and into Canada.

    In their new report, the scientists said such a heatwave was now four times more likely than it was in the year 2000, driven by planet-warming emissions.

    Many extreme weather events including heatwaves are becoming more frequent and intense as a result of climate change, experts say.

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    “The results of our study should be taken as another warning that our climate is heating to dangerous levels,” said Izidine Pinto, Researcher at the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute.

    “Potentially deadly and record-breaking temperatures are occurring more and more frequently in the US, Mexico and Central America due to climate change.

    “As long as humans fill the atmosphere with fossil fuel emissions, the heat will only get worse – vulnerable people will continue to die and the cost of living will continue to increase.”

    The WWA study focused on a region including the US south-west and Mexico, as well as Guatemala, Belize, El Salvador and Honduras which also saw dangerously high temperatures.

    The scientists said that the hottest five-day stretch across the region in June was made about 1.4C warmer by climate change.

  • Putin vows deeper ties with Vietnam in visit criticised by U.S.

    Putin vows deeper ties with Vietnam in visit criticised by U.S.

    The leaders of Vietnam and Russia have said they want to boost ties as the pair met in the Vietnamese capital of Hanoi.

    Vietnamese President To Lam was full of praise for his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, congratulating him on his recent re-election.

    Putin, in return, said strengthening a strategic partnership with the south-east Asian country was one of Russia’s priorities.

    His trip to Vietnam, which comes on the heels of his lavish visit to North Korea, is being interpreted as a demonstration of the diplomatic support Russia still enjoys in the region.

    “Congratulations to our comrade for receiving overwhelming support during the recent presidential election, underlining the confidence of the Russian people,” President Lam said after Putin was given a red carpet welcome.

    The United States has criticised the visit for giving a platform for President Putin to promote his war of aggression in Ukraine.

    Vietnam still values the historic ties it has with Russia even as it works to improve its relationship with Europe and the U.S.

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    Looming over a small park in Ba Dinh, Hanoi’s political quarter, a five-meter high statue of Lenin depicts the Russian revolutionary in heroic pose.

    On his birthday every year, a delegation of senior Vietnamese officials solemnly lay flowers and bow their heads before the statue, a gift from Russia when it was still the Soviet Union.

    Vietnam’s ties to Russia are close and go back many decades, to the vital military, economic and diplomatic support given by the Soviet Union to the new communist state in North Vietnam in the 1950s.

    Vietnam described their relationship as “filled with loyalty and gratitude”. After Vietnam invaded Cambodia in 1978 to throw out the murderous Khmer Rouge regime, it was isolated and sanctioned by China and the West, and depended heavily on Soviet assistance. Many older Vietnamese, including the powerful communist party secretary-general Nguyen Phu Trong, studied in Russia and learned the language.

  • West Bank hospitals overstretched amid funds paucity

    West Bank hospitals overstretched amid funds paucity

    Doctors in the occupied West Bank have warned that the financial crisis gripping Palestine’s government may soon prevent them from providing proper care for sick and injured Palestinians.

    The Palestinian Authority, which governs the occupied territory, has suffered from a massive hole in its finances since Israel began witholding tax revenues it collects on the PA’s behalf following the outbreak of the Israel-Gaza war.

    This crisis has decimated entire sectors in the West Bank, including healthcare, limiting the care that hospitals can provide and ultimately jeopardising Palestinian lives.

    “If the situation continues like this for a period of 45 days to two months, we have warned the Ministry of Health and the people who monitor our work that the quality of our services will not be the same,” warned Dr Yousef Takruri, the head of the union of private hospitals in the West Bank. “This will have an impact on Palestinians.”

    The financial crisis is also directly affecting healthcare workers, who have not been receiving their full salaries.

    Dr. Nadeem Shaheen, a resident neurosurgeon at Istishari Arab Hospital near Ramallah, is among the thousands of healthcare workers across the occupied territory who have only received half their monthly salaries since October 7.

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    “I’ve had to cut back my house loan payments to half,” Dr Shaheen said. “The shortage of money directly affects your family and life.”

    Despite his difficult personal situation, Dr Shaheen – who has spent much of his adult life working to realise his dream of beocming a specialist doctor – remains determined to provide the best care possible for his patients.

    “We are always ready to provide care,” he told The National.

    Providing this care is an uphill battle due to the Palestinian Authority’s financial problems and the Israeli occupation.