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http://ift.tt/eA8V8J   Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo State has described the late Professor Babatunde Osotimehin as a medical practitioner of immense status and knowledge to boot, while also expressing grief on the passing of the Executive Director of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). This was as he condoled with the family, friends, and co-workers of the late professor, who died at the age of 68, noting that Nigeria had lost one of its finest health workers, who fought severely against the spread of HIV/AIDS in the country. The governor grieved in a statement that: “Professor Osotimehin was not your ordinary doctor. He was a thorough man, who did not overlook little details. It was this hardwork and attention to detail that made him a very successful man, so much so that the United Nations called him to serve, and he excelled again, as was usual to him.” Speaking further, Governor Obaseki added that Osotimehin’s passing was a loss to not only Nigeria, but the ...

http://ift.tt/eA8V8J Iraq’s autonomous Kurdish region will hold a referendum on statehood in September, its presidency said Wednesday, despite opposition to independence from Baghdad. “September 25, 2017 was designated as the day for holding the referendum” on independence, the presidency said in a statement. The post Presidency says Iraqi Kurds will hold independence referendum on Sept 25 appeared first on Vanguard News . Vía Vanguard News http://ift.tt/2rMn1tK via Blogger http://ift.tt/2rMpuVj

http://ift.tt/2rBJSd5 PHOTO:AFP Leicester City striker Jamie Vardy has withdrawn from the England squad to play Scotland and France due to a “minor” injury, the Football Association announced on Wednesday. Vardy, 30, sustained the injury during training on Tuesday and will now miss Saturday’s World Cup qualifier against Scotland in Glasgow and next Tuesday’s friendly against France in Paris. “Jamie Vardy has left the England squad as a precaution after picking up a minor injury in training at St George’s Park yesterday,” the FA said in a statement. “No further players are due to be added to the squad at this moment in time.” Vardy took his England goal tally to six in 16 appearances with the second goal in March’s 2-0 World Cup qualifying win at home to Lithuania. In his absence, Harry Kane, Jermain Defoe and Marcus Rashford will compete for a starting berth. Vía Nigeria News, Headlines and Opinions – The Guardian Nigeria Newspaper http://ift.tt/2r2kwXa via Blogger ht...

http://ift.tt/2szVewx Al-Jazeera PHOTO:AFP /Faisal al-Tamimi Qatar-based broadcaster Al-Jazeera said Tuesday Saudi Arabia’s decision to shut its office in the kingdom as part of the diplomatic crisis in the Gulf was “unjustified”. In a statement, the global news channel condemned Riyadh’s move and called on Saudi Arabia to allow its journalists to continue to work “free of intimidation and threats”. “We firmly believe these are unjustified measure(s) by the authorities in the kingdom against the network and its operations,” the statement said. “In spite of restriction(s) imposed on the network, Al-Jazeera will continue to cover the news and current affairs from the region and beyond (in a) balanced objective manner”. As well as closing the office, Saudi Arabia withdrew the channel’s licence needed to broadcast. It also accused Al-Jazeera of promoting “terrorist groups” and supporting rebels in Yemen. The move came as Saudi Arabia, along with other Gulf states and Egypt, ...

http://ift.tt/eA8V8J Abuja – The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has assured all operators and their subscribers of the security of national telecommunications network due to the recent outbreak of a Ransomware Virus known as “WannaCry”. The commission gave the assurance on Wednesday in Abuja in a statement on its website. It said that the Ransomware was capable of infecting and encrypting all files on a system or any smart device until an amount was paid for a decryption key. “Or other means of retrieval (which may lead to data loss) are used to recover the system as an alternative. “This situation demands that proactive measures be taken by all players in the telecommunication eco-system to forestall the hazards of critical data loss, financial losses and ultimately network/business disruption.’’ The commission advised operators and respective subscribers to obtain software patch released by Microsoft in March 2017 to fix the Ransomware Virus. It also advised operator...

http://ift.tt/2r6vf20 US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. PHOTO: NICHOLAS KAMM / AFP Relations between the United States and Russia, at their lowest level since the Cold War, will not restart “with a clean slate,” Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said on Sunday. The former ExxonMobil CEO, who was decorated in 2013 by Russian President Vladimir Putin, had said previously that the relationship between the two nuclear powers had hit its lowest point since the Soviet collapse in 1991. His Russian counterpart, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov — whom Trump hosted at the White House on Wednesday — said the same. Speaking on NBC on Sunday, Tillerson reiterated that relations had fallen to “an all-time low point since the end of the Cold War, with a very low level of trust.” “It is not healthy for the world,” he said. “It’s certainly not healthy for us, for the American people, our national security interest and otherwise, for this relationship to remain at this low level.” However...

http://ift.tt/2p2D1rM President Muhammadu Buhari (C) presenting copies of the 2017 budget documents to the National Assembly on Wednesday, December 14, 2016. The All Progressives Congress (APC) on Friday in Abuja, said the 2017 budget approved by the National Assembly on Thursday would usher in better development in the country. National Publicity Secretary of the party, Malam Bolaji Abdullahi, gave the assurance in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN). He said that rather than criticise the budget, Nigerians should commend the lawmakers and APC leadership for making it open for public scrutiny before it was passed. Abdullahi dismissed insinuations that the budget may have been padded by the lawmakers and said that the National Assembly deserved commendation. He said that Nigerians were able to know how much was allocated to each sector of the economy, “because for the first time in Nigeria’s democratic history, its budget was open to public for scrutiny’’. ...

http://ift.tt/2pC8Gxa L-R: Finance Director, Mrs. Adesola Sotande-Peters; Chairman, Board of Directors, His Majesty, Nnaemeka Achebe CFR MNI; Managing Director, Mr. Yaw Nsarkoh and Non-Executive Director, Mr. Atedo Peterside CON during the Unilever 92nd Annual General Meeting Unilever Nigeria Plc. has declared a dividend of N378 million following the approval of the company’s shareholders at the 92nd Annual General Meeting of the Company held in Lagos on Thursday, May 11 at the Muson Centre. The dividend declared amidst a challenging operating year and environment translates to a dividend payout of 10 kobo gross per share to the shareholders. In the year ended 2016, the Company increased its revenue by 17.8 percent from N59 billion recorded in 2015 to N69 billion as Profit After Tax (PAT) for the year ended 31st December 2016 increased significantly by 157% to N3.07bn from N1.19bn reported for the year ended 31st December 2015. Addressing shareholders at the 92nd AGM, the Ch...

http://ift.tt/2qwmQ8m WASHINGTON, DC – MAY 11: Acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe (L) and the other heads of the U.S. intelligence agencies testify before the Senate Intelligence Committee in the Hart Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill May 11, 2017 in Washington, DC. McCabe was testifying in place of former FBI Director James Comey, who was fired by President Donald Trump on Tuesday. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images/AFP Six top US intelligence officials told Congress Thursday they agree with the conclusion that Russia acted to influence last year’s election, countering President Donald Trump’s assertions that the hacking remains an open question. Asked whether they believed the intelligence community’s January assessment that Russia was responsible for hacking and leaking information to influence the elections was accurate, all six spy and law enforcement bosses appearing before the panel said “yes.” They included Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats, CIA director Mike Pom...