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http://ift.tt/eA8V8J The U.S. threatened to withdraw from the UN Human Rights Council unless reforms are ushered in including the removal of what it sees as an “anti-Israel bias”, diplomats and activists said. U.S. Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley, who holds cabinet rank in President Donald Trump’s administration, said on Friday that Washington would decide on whether to withdraw from the Council after its three-week session in Geneva ends this month. Under Trump, Washington has broken with decades of U.S. foreign policy by turning away from multilateralism. His decision to withdraw from the Paris climate agreement last week drew criticism from governments around the world. The Council’s critical stance of Israel has been a major sticking point for its ally the U.S. Washington boycotted the body for three years under President George W. Bush before rejoining under Barack Obama in 2009. Haley, writing in the Washington Post at the weekend, called for the Council to “end its pract...

http://ift.tt/eA8V8J The Christ Evangelical Intercessory Fellowship Ministry, Sabon Tasha, Kaduna has doled out over 500 food packages to Muslims, since the beginning of the Ramadan. Pastor Yohanna Buru,the Church General Overseer, told the Newsmen in Kaduna on Monday that the food packages and drinks were shared out to destitutes and the poor. He said that the Church was in the forefront of promoting religious tolerance in Kaduna State, adding that the gesture was to deepen peaceful co-existence between Muslims and Christians. “We must support our brothers and sisters with what to eat  in these 30 days, in view of the high cost of food items in local markets. “This gesture will strengthen good relationship with Muslims and promote religious tolerance and better understanding among different faiths.” According to him, it is not the first time the church is distributing foodstuffs to needy Muslims during the Ramadan. Buru recalled that the Church had distributed over 1,0...

http://ift.tt/2qWendm Kwara united A player of the Nigeria National League (NNL) side, Kwara United FC of Ilorin, Saka Azeez, on Friday slumped and died in training. The club’s Media Officer, Abdulwaheed Bibire, confirmed the development to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Friday in Ilorin. NAN reports that Azeez, 24, who was the son of former African and Commonwealth Table Tennis Champion, Kasali Lasisi, slumped at the Kwara Stadium, Ilorin during a training session. ‎ Incidentally, his father was one of the eminent Kwarans given an award for his outstanding contribution to sports development on Thursday in Ilorin, as the state marked its 50th anniversary. Bibire described the death of the player as a rude shock, given his contributions to the club. He said the entire soccer fans in the state will surely miss him. The Harmony Boys spokesman described Azeez as an astute professional, on and off the pitch, easy going, and a dedicated player. “From Almighty Allah we c...

http://ift.tt/2qBjM7n PHOTO: Jumia travel It’s only when the thick smog of humidity and pollution lifts that the size of Lagos becomes clear: from above, the megacity of some 20 million people seems to stretch out to infinity. Not even the Atlantic Ocean appears to be able to stop its exponential growth, a tide of multi-storey apartments and shacks stretching into the sea. The state of Lagos was created just 50 years ago, on May 27, 1967. At that time, the quiet city on the edge of a large green lagoon was Nigeria’s capital and home to about one million people. But Nigeria’s population then exploded. The biggest boom happened in Lagos, seen as a place of possibilities where people came from all over the country and west Africa to make their fortune. Fifty years on, Lagos is the world’s 10th largest city with between 17 and 22 million people, although no-one seems to be counting. With an average of 900 new arrivals a day during the last half-century, the provision of housi...

http://ift.tt/2s3ozyF Hajj The Lagos State Pilgrims Welfare Board has described as “slow,’’ the response of intending pilgrims to the 2017 hajj exercise in the state. MrMuftau Okoya, Executive Secretary of the Board disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria on Friday in Lagos. Okoya said that difficulties in the economy could be responsible for the slow response. “We had a seat allocation of 3964, but till now, we have less than 2000 intending pilgrims that have registered with us. “I think the present economic recession is largely responsible for the slow response, and we can only pray for things to improve. “We airlifted 2218 pilgrims in 2016, hoping to record considerable improvement this year, but the response has not been too encouraging. We hope it will pick up before the May 31 deadline,’’ he said. Okoya said that an allocation of 3964 seats was initially given to the state by the National Hajj Commission (NAHCON), but had to be reduced by 120...

http://ift.tt/eA8V8J The Nigerian Customs has again intercepted another container-load of arms and ammunition at the Tin Can Island Port in Lagos,. The container was found at the Ports and Cargo Terminal of the Tin Can Island Ports. The post Breaking: Customs intercept another container-load of arms in Lagos port appeared first on Vanguard News . Vía Vanguard News http://ift.tt/2rd1f57

http://ift.tt/eA8V8J Iran condemned a suicide attack at a pop concert in Manchester that killed 22 people, but in an apparent swipe at Western security cooperation with Gulf Arab states said “artificial alliances” would not eliminate such threats. “Terrorism will be uprooted only by taking comprehensive measures, and avoiding double standards,” foreign ministry spokesman Bahram Qasemi was quoted as saying by state news agency IRNA on Tuesday. “Artificial alliances would not stop the expansion of cancerous terrorism in the world.” Monday’s attack at a concert by U.S. singer Ariana Grande in the English city of Manchester killed at least 22 people and wounded 59. U.S. President Donald Trump opened an anti-terrorism center in Saudi Arabia during his tour in the region, and accused Iran of being a key source of funding and support for militant groups in the Middle East. Iran denies the claims and says Saudi Arabia is the real source of funding for Islamist militants. In a separate c...

http://ift.tt/eA8V8J Nigeria’s economy has continued to slump and has contracted for a fifth consecutive quarter in the three months through March as oil output declined, a Bloomberg report indicate. Gross domestic product in Africa’s most populous nation, Nigeria shrank 0.5 percent in the first quarter from a year earlier, compared with a revised 1.7 percent contraction in the final three months of 2016, the Abuja-based National Bureau of Statistics said in an emailed statement on Tuesday. The median of eight economist estimates compiled by Bloomberg was for the economy to expand by 0.3 percent. Economy took a hit after oil prices crashed in mid-2014, and militants from the crude producing Niger Delta region destroyed pipelines causing production to fall to an almost three-decade low. That and power shortages weighed down output, causing the GDP to shrink a revised 1.6 percent in 2016, the first full-year contraction in a quarter of a century. Foreign-currency shortages fueled by...

http://ift.tt/2qO1u29 Until his appointment, Dangoggo was the Director, Sokoto Energy Research Centre, Usman Danfodiyo University, Sokoto. Governor Aminu Tambuwal of Sokoto State has approved the appointment of Prof. Sani Dangoggo, as the new Vice-Chancellor of Sokoto State University. Until his appointment, Dangoggo was the Director, Sokoto Energy Research Centre, Usman Danfodiyo University, Sokoto. He succeeds Prof. Nuhu Yaqoob, whose tenure has just expired, the Secretary to the State Government, Prof. Bashir Garba, said in a statement on Saturday. Similarly, Tambuwal has also approved the appointments of Prof. Zayyanu Umar and Prof. Nasiru Ibrahim, as the new Deputy Vice-Chancellors in charge of Academics and Administration respectively. Umar was the Dean, Faculty of Social Sciences, Usman Danfodiyo University, while Ibrahim was an agriculture lecturer in the same institution. The tenure of the Registrar, Mrs Amina Garba, was also renewed for a final second term. Vía...