The Nation Newspaper

Category: Foreign

  • Indian PM proposes G20 slot for AU

    Indian PM proposes G20 slot for AU

    Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has proposed to make the African Union (AU) a full member of the Group of 20, while also pitching his country as the solution to supply chain woes in advance of the bloc’s summit in New Delhi next month.

    “We have a vision of inclusiveness and with that vision, we have invited the African Union to become permanent members of the G20,” Modi said yesterday as he addressed the Business 20 Summit in New Delhi days before the September 9-10 G20 summit.

    The G20 major economies consist of 19 countries and the European Union (EU), making up about 85 percent of global gross domestic product (GDP) and two-thirds of the world’s population – but South Africa is the only member from the continent.

    Read Also: AU saves ECOWAS blushes

    In December, United States President Joe Biden said he wanted the AU “to join the G20 as a permanent member”, adding that it had “been a long time in coming, but it’s going to come”.

    Yesterday, New Delhi also called for including the pan-African bloc, which collectively had a $3 trillion GDP last year.

    As the host of G20 this year, New Delhi has struggled to bridge the differences among its members, particularly on the issue of the Ukraine-Russia war. India has refused to join the West’s policy of isolating Moscow and has instead become the biggest buyer of Russian crude. In its previous meetings, the G20 delegates have failed to issue a single communique raising doubts about the outcome of the September meeting.

    With its headquarters in Ethiopia’s capital Addis Ababa, the AU has 55 members, but five military-ruled nations are currently suspended.

    Modi also said India was the “solution” to creating an “efficient and trusted global supply chain” following disruptions during the coronavirus pandemic, with New Delhi working to bolster manufacturing to compete with China.

    “The world before COVID-19 and after COVID-19 has changed a lot – the world cannot view the global supply chain as before,” Modi said.

    “That is why today when the world is grappling with this question, I want to assure that the solution to this problem is India.”

    Relations between the world’s two most populous nations nosedived after a deadly Himalayan border clash that killed 20 Indian soldiers and at least four Chinese servicemen in 2020.

    Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping held a rare face-to-face meeting on the sidelines of a summit on Thursday, with Beijing saying they held “candid and in-depth” talks to ease tensions along their disputed frontier.

    Washington has been seeking closer ties with New Delhi to counter a rising China – the world’s second-largest economy.

    But India has continued to engage with Russia despite Western pressure and last week attended a summit of the BRICS group of emerging economies that is considered a counterweight to Western powers.

    At its three-day annual summit in Johannesburg last Thursday, the BRICS invited six countries, including Saudi Arabia and Iran – major producers of oil in the world – as its new members. Brazil, South Africa, China and Russia are the other core members of the group.

  • Trump: Being inside jail was ‘terrible experience’

    Trump: Being inside jail was ‘terrible experience’

    • Says ‘This is a Third World country’      
    • Ex-president surrenders to Geogia jail, booked on 13 felony counts 

    Former US President, Donald Trump, yesterday called his experience of having his mugshot taken during his arrest for racketeering and conspiracy charges in Fulton County, Georgia, as terrible. Trump said though he was treated ‘nicely’ during his booking process, he described his arrest as a “very sad day for the country.”

    “I came in, I was treated very nicely but it is what it is. I took a mugshot, I’d never heard the words mug shot, they didn’t teach me that at the Wharton School of Finance, he told Newsmax.”He was slammed with 13 offenses as part of Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis’ expansive investigation into alleged criminal attempts to overturn the 2020 election results. The booking process took  about 20minutes during which his fingerprints were taken.He is the first former president in US history to have his mugshot taken.

    Read Also: Nigerian telemedicine firm selected for Barclays Black Venture Programme

    Asked by his interviewer  what it was like inside the jail, Trump said: “It’s just like one thing after the next,” Trump said of  the charges against him.”And what they want to do is they want to try and wear you out.”Just an absolute horrible thing that they’re doing. And I’ve never seen anything like it. This is a Third World country. “He paid $20,000, or 10% of his $200,000 bond, through a local bail bondsman, allowing him to be released after about 20minutes at the jail. He is expected to face trial as early as October. Trump’s former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows also surrendered Thursday and was released on $100,000 bond. Also booked was Harrison Floyd III, the former leader of Black Voices for Trump. Floyd is the only one of Trump’s 18 co-defendants to remain jailed ahead of trial.

    He faces separate charges in Maryland of assaulting an FBI officer who served him a grand jury subpoena in February. On Thursday, Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis asked to move the start of Trump’s trial to October 23, after one Trump co-defendant,Kenneth Chesebro, demanded a speedy trial. Chesebro is the lawyer who proposed Trump use fake electors to try to overturn the election. After headlines, we’ll go to Atlanta, Georgia, for the latest.

  • It’s absolute lie, Kremlin slams accusations it killed Wagner chief

    It’s absolute lie, Kremlin slams accusations it killed Wagner chief

    • US intelligence: How  intentional explosion brought down Prigozhin’s plane

    The Kremlin yesterday fiercely dismissed as ‘absolute lie’ accusations that it killed Wagner chief, Yevgeny Prigozhin.

    Kremlin spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, said insinuations in the West that the plane was downed on Putin’s orders were false.

    “There is now a great deal of speculation surrounding this plane crash and the tragic deaths of the plane’s passengers, including Yevgeny Prigozhin,” Peskov said at a press conference.

    She added: “Of course, in the West, all this speculation is presented from a well-known angle.”

    “All of this is an absolute lie, and here, when covering this issue, it is necessary to base yourself on facts,” he added. “There are not many facts yet. They need to be established in the course of investigative actions.”

    Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov expressed similar sentiments yesterday.

    Read Also: Nigerian telemedicine firm selected for Barclays Black Venture Programme

    Citing US President Bide’s statement that he was not “surprised” that Prigozhin had been killed in a plane crash and that “there’s not much that happens in Russia that (Vladimir) Putin’s not behind,”Ryabkov said such remarks showed Washington’s disregard for diplomacy.

    TASS news agency  quoted him as saying:“It is not for the US president, in my opinion, to talk about such tragic events of this kind,” Ryabkov was quoted by the state TASS news agency as saying.

    US intelligence: How  intentional explosion brought down Prigozhin’s plane

     The  U.S. intelligence  in a preliminary assessment said that an intentional explosion caused the plane crash that  killed Prigozhin .

    Yahoo News quoted U.S. and Western officials as saying that Prigozhin was “very likely” targeted and that the explosion falls in line with Putin’s “long history of trying to silence his critics.”

    The officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment, did not offer any details about what caused the explosion, which was widely believed to be vengeance for the mutiny in June that posed the biggest challenge to the Russian leader’s 23-year rule. Several of Prigozhin’s lieutenants were also presumed dead.

    Pentagon spokesman Gen. Pat Ryder said press reports that a surface-to-air missile took down the plane were inaccurate. He declined to say whether the U.S. suspected a bomb or believed the crash was an assassination.

    Details of the intelligence assessment surfaced as Putin expressed his condolences to the families of those who were reported to be aboard the jet and referred to “serious mistakes” by Prigozhin.

  • UK’s first womb transplant raises fertility hope for women

    UK’s first womb transplant raises fertility hope for women

    Medical professionals are heralding a “new era” for those wanting to become pregnant following the United Kingdom’s first successful womb transplant.

    Six months ago, a 40-year-old mother of two donated her uterus to her 34-year-old sister, who had been born without one, according to a report yesterday.

    Now, the recipient of the uterus is having periods and making plans for a family of her own via in vitro fertilisation.

    Professor Richard Smith called the process a “massive success,” the report noted.

    “We were all in tears,” he said, recalling meeting with the sisters following the operation. “It was a very, very emotional … I think it was probably the most stressful week of our surgical careers, but also unbelievably positive.”

    “The donor and recipient are just over the moon.”

    Conducted in February at Oxford’s Churchill Hospital, a staff of over 30 people worked over eight hours to extract the donor’s womb, and a further nine hours and 20 minutes was required to complete the operation, the report noted.

    Womb Transplant UK covered the £25,000 or $31,693.50 cost of the procedure, and the surgeons and medical staff appeared to volunteer their time.

    Read Also:Quack stitches woman’s womb to urinary tract in Ondo

    “I’m just really happy that we’ve got a donor, who is completely back to normal after her big op, and the recipient is … doing really well on her immunosuppressive therapy and looking forward to hopefully having a baby,” Smith said.

    The recipient will have her sister’s womb for up to five years before it will be taken out, according to the report.

    It’s “a remarkable achievement,” Chairman of the British Fertility Society Raj Mathur said.

    “I think it’s the dawn of a new age, a new era in treating these patients,” Mathur said. “You have got to remember some of these patients are the most difficult fertility situations that you can imagine … they are either born without a uterus or they have lost the uterus for reasons of cancer or other problems, for instance in (labour).”

    “Up until now, we have really not had any way of helping them other than surrogacy.”

     The United Kingdom’s first successful womb transplant comes in the wake of the American Medical Association floating a trial balloon for uterus transplants for transgender women.

  • Indian aircraft Chandrayaan 3 lands on the moon

    Indian aircraft Chandrayaan 3 lands on the moon

    The Indian Space Research Organisation’s (ISRO) Chandrayaan 3 mission successfully pulled off a first yesterday for the space agency when it soft-landed on the Moon.

    India’s Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, commenting on Twitter/X, said: “Today was a historic day for India’s space sector. Congratulations to ISRO for the remarkable success of Chandrayaan 3 lunar mission.”

    The landing occurred between Manzinus C and Simpelius N craters on the lunar nearside at 12:34 Universal Time (UT) (6:34 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time, or EDT) yesterday. This makes India the fourth nation to soft-land on the Moon, after the United States, China, and the former Soviet Union.

    ESA’s European Space Tracking system (ESTRACK) and NASA’s Deep Space Network (DSN) partnered with ISRO to provide global tracking coverage for Chandrayaan 3.

    Read Also: Sultan asks Muslims to look for new moon

    This also makes India the first nation to successfully land in the lunar south-pole region. The crewed Apollo missions landed on the lunar nearside at lower latitudes, and even the historic farside landing of China’s Chang’e 4 craft in 2019 only reached some 45°S. Chandrayaan 3 reaches 69°S. Exploring the polar region of the Moon is the new game in lunar exploration, as some permanently shadowed craters at the poles harbour water ice.

    Launched on a LVM 3 rocket from Satish Dhawan Space Centre on July 14th, Chandrayaan 3 entered lunar orbit on August 5th after a series of boosting manoeuvers. The 1,752-kilogramme (3,862-pound) Vikram lander separated from the upper stage on August 17th in preparation for landing. The lander also took a sequence of images of the primary landing site this past week from low lunar orbit, for engineers to analyse prior to the final landing approach.

  • Zimbabwe polls close after voting delays

    Zimbabwe polls close after voting delays

    Zimbabweans went to the polls yesterday in a general election in which incumbent President Emmerson Mnangagwa of the ruling Zimbabwe African National Union – Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) is facing off against 11 other candidates.

    ZANU-PF has ruled Zimbabwe since the country’s independence from British colonial rule in 1980.

    Voting stations were supposed to open at 7 a.m. local time (0500 UTC) and close at 7:00 p.m. (1700 UTC), however, reports of delays of up to eight hours at some polling stations have triggered accusations of manipulation.

    The delays were reported in mostly opposition strongholds with less than a quarter of polling stations in the capital Harare opening on time.

    The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission said “numerous court challenges” had delayed the printing of ballot papers.

    The commission added that everyone who was waiting in line at 7 p.m. would be able to vote.

    “I am not going anywhere. I waited five years to vote, and these hours won’t kill me,” Cathrine Nyakudanga said. She had arrived before polls opened, carrying her six-month-old baby on her back, but ballot papers did not arrive until 4p.m.

    Mnangagwa, known as the “Crocodile,” assumed office following a 2017 coup that ousted strongman Robert Mugabe, also of the ZANU-PF, who had led Zimbabwe since 1980.

    The incumbent president is seeking a second and final term. Zimbabwe’s constitution, approved in a 2013 reform, allows presidents to serve for a maximum of two five-year terms.

    A run-off election will be held on October 2 if no candidate achieves an absolute majority in the first round.

    Mnangagwa’s main challenger is Nelson Chamisa of the Citizen Coalitions for Change (CCC) party.

    Chamisa has accused the government of repressing the CCC, including blocking the party’s campaign rallies.

    The U.S. State Department voiced concern about political violence ahead of the election.

    “We call on the government of Zimbabwe and all political leaders to ensure the elections are free of violence and coercion,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said.

  • Egypt urges dialogue to settle crisis in Niger

    Egypt urges dialogue to settle crisis in Niger

    The Egyptian Foreign Ministry has stressed the importance of adopting dialogue to reach a peaceful resolution of the crisis in Niger.

    “Egypt boosts all efforts exerted to defuse tensions in a way that promotes the democratic order and the sovereignty and stability of Niger and prevents escalations that could shake regional security,’’ the ministry said in a statement.

    Earlier on Tuesday, The African Union (AU) Commission suspended Niger from the pan-African bloc until normal constitutional order is restored in the country following the latest military coup.

    The coup took place on July 26, resulting in the ousting of democratically-elected President Mohamed Bazoum by a faction of military officers.

  • Putin offers to host next BRICS summit in Russia

    Putin offers to host next BRICS summit in Russia

    Russian President Vladimir Putin has offered to host the next summit of the BRICS alliance of emerging economies.

    Putin made the offer after he could not attend the event in South Africa this year due to an arrest warrant against him by the International Criminal Court (ICC).

    In a speech, which was transmitted via video to the meeting in Johannesburg, Putin invited the representatives of the other member states Brazil, India, China and South Africa to the Russian city of Kazan in October 2024.

    The specific date is to be agreed through diplomatic channels.

    Putin announced that there would be more than 200 political, economic and social events under Russia’s BRICS presidency in the coming year.

  • ‘Why green passport holder faces rigorous screening abroad’

    ‘Why green passport holder faces rigorous screening abroad’

    Nigerians  travelling abroad  with   green passport are usually subjected to rigorous screening  on  arrival at their destinations   because of  bad  reputation of a few,  a tourist, Mr McDolly Ogundana has said..

    Ogundana, popularly called  Mr Tourist or ‘the9jaboy’ made this known in an interview in Lagos.

    According to him, the rigorous screening was due to the damaging reputation few Nigerians have accrued therefore reducing the country to a lowly rating of 197 in the ranking of international passports

    He said: “For many Nigerians, it’s a nightmare travelling with their “green passport” as most Nigerians traveling often times prefer to use alternative passport just to avoid the usual rigorous screening of the passport.

    “Nigerians traveling abroad have been subjected to an untold experience with immigrations across the globe owing to the damaging reputation few Nigerians have accrued to what is supposed to be our national pride thereby reducing Nigeria ‘s to a lowly rating of 197 in the ranking of international passports,” he said.

    Mr Tourist  is a young Nigerian not dismayed but rather pushing through the tough route to change the narrative of the green passport with his adventure into tourism in close to a decade.

    McDolly has traveled to over 155 countries across the seven continents of the world only with his “green passport “ and willing to do even more as he pushes for a change of narratives of “green passport ‘

     He agreed that it is admissible that some Nigerians have soiled the passport but yet there are thousands of Nigerians doing exploits across the globe which out numbers the few “blacksheeps;”

    it is therefore  imperative for Nigerians to embrace the green passport with a bid to  changing the narrative ‘.

     His quest to changing that narrative and passion to be known as the most traveled Nigerian with the “green passport” and also the most travelled African motivated him into a globetrotter.

    For McDolly,  it’s being a mixed reactions on his encounters with immigration personnel across the globe as he narrates his experience when he started and today his green passport now receives same treatment with other top rated passport while recounting how he has passed through an immigration desk in less that  two minutes and another in less than four minutes compared to his early stages when he had to go through the rigours of  screenings.’

     With Nigeria’s dwindling economy and its over reliance on oil that is gradually been faced out, McDolly is taking the driver’s seat in adding thrust to the tourism industry as he is currently touring some of the tourist sites in Nigeria with the aim of attracting both local and international tourists to them ‘The9jaboy” the non-celebrated Nigerian ambassador is optimistic that Nigeria is blessed with so much tourism sites that can turn its current economic woes around in a matter of time if only the right personnel and investment are made in the tourism industry.

    He  reiterated that of about  155 countries visited so far that Nigeria still remains among top nation with wonderful sites for tourism with each state having its unique sites .

     Having identified the challenges of the industry that includes lack of adequate data, he is working to providing the government (Ministry of Culture and Tourism) with adequate data on tourism in Nigeria. He believes that with the right data the government will be a  guide in making the right choices towards the development of the tourism industry.

  • Pro-coup rally in Niger after military leader warns against foreign intervention

    Pro-coup rally in Niger after military leader warns against foreign intervention

    Several thousand people have demonstrated in the capital of Niger in support of last month’s military coup, whose leader has warned against outside intervention and proposed a three-year transition of power.

    The demonstrators chanted slogans hostile to former colonial power France and West African regional bloc, ECOWAS, which is considering a potential military operation to reinstate elected president Mohamed Bazoum, if ongoing negotiations with coup leaders fail.

    The Sahel state’s new military leaders have officially banned demonstrations but in practice, those in support of the coup are allowed to go ahead.

    The demonstrators waved placards, saying “Stop the military intervention” and “No to sanctions”, in reference to the financial and trade restrictions imposed by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) four days after the coup on July 26.

    The pro-coup rally was accompanied by musicians praising the new military regime, AFP journalists reported.

    The latest in a string of pro-coup rallies came a day after the new military ruler in Niamey warned that an attack on Niger would not be a “walk in the park”.

    Read Also; Ebonyi PDP seeks end to defection by politicians

    General Abdourahamane Tiani also said in a televised address on Saturday that he did not wish to “confiscate” power and a transition of power back to civilian rule would not go beyond three years.

    Niger’s new leaders have accused France, a close Bazoum ally, of being behind the anti-coup stance taken by ECOWAS, which on Saturday made a fresh push for a diplomatic solution.

    After ECOWAS chiefs of staff met in the Ghanaian capital Accra on Friday, the 17-nation bloc said it had agreed on a date for a potential intervention.

    It nonetheless sent a diplomatic delegation to Niamey on Saturday, led by former Nigerian leader Abdulsalami Abubakar.

    Niger television showed delegation members shaking hands with Bazoum, who remains in detention.

    It also broadcast footage of Abubakar speaking to Tiani but the content of the exchange has not been made public.

    In his televised address on Saturday, Tiani alleged that ECOWAS was “getting ready to attack Niger by setting up an occupying army in collaboration with a foreign army”, without saying which country he meant.

    But he added: “If an attack were to be undertaken against us, it will not be the walk in the park some people seem to think.”

    Tiani also announced a 30-day period of “national dialogue” to draw up “concrete proposals” to lay the foundations of “a new constitutional life”.

    Pope calls for peace

    Pope Francis yesterday urged a diplomatic solution to the political crisis in Niger.

    “I am following with concern what is happening in Niger, and join the bishops’ call in favour of peace in the country and stability in the Sahel,” said Pope Francis, addressing the faithful in St Peter’s Square after his Angelus prayer.

    “I join with prayer the efforts of the international community to find a peaceful solution as soon as possible for the good of everyone,” said the 86-year-old.

    Army officers ousted  President Mohamed Bazoum on July 26, making Niger the fourth West African nation to suffer a coup since 2020.

    But, a group, Advocacy for Peace and Socio-economic Empowerment of Women and Youth (APSEWY), has called on ECOWAS to extend time for dialogue with Niger Republic.

    The group, which made the call at a news conference yesterday in Kaduna, also called on President Bola Tinubu as

    leader of ECOWAS, to continue using diplomatic negotiations, not war.

    Chairman of the group, Fareeda  Umar-Bakori, stated that Nigeria and Niger Republic had enjoyed good relationship over the years, supporting each other on critical issues of national security.

    “Both Nigeria and Niger based diplomatic relations upon non- interference in the internal affairs of the other.

    “Any military intervention against Niger will unavoidably and directly affect Northern Nigeria by worsening and further destabilising the region which has been plagued by insecurity.

    “It may also lead to humanitarian crises, as Nigeriens will migrate to northern states if the war intensifies,” she said.