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Author: Cecilia Odey

  • Candidate drops out of Iran presidential race, urges hardliner unity

    Candidate drops out of Iran presidential race, urges hardliner unity

    Race

    Tehran, June 27, 2024 (dpa/NAN) A candidate in Iran’s presidential election has announced that he was dropping out of the race in an effort to unite support among hard-line voters heading to polls on Friday.

    The departure of Amirhossein Ghazizadeh Hashemi, an arch-conservative politician, leaves five contenders in the election to replace Ebrahim Raisi, who died in a helicopter crash in May.

    Ghazizadeh Hashemi was one of Raisi’s vice presidents and the chairman of the Foundation of Martyrs and Veterans Affairs.

    He belongs to the Front of Islamic Revolution Stability, a political faction loyal to Islamic Republic’s hard-line leadership.

    He announced in a Wednesday night post on X that he was withdrawing from the race.

    He urged others with a similar political bent to follow suit in order for support to unify around a single hard-line candidate.

    Around 61 million voters are being called upon to elect a successor to Raisi.

    The Guardian Council, an extremely conservative supervisory body, had only authorised six candidates for the election.

    In the hard-line camp, a power struggle is raging between Saeed Jalili, ex-negotiator in the international nuclear talks, and parliamentary speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf.

    It was unclear whether another candidate from the camp would also withdraw.

    Former health minister Masoud Pezeshkian was the only moderate candidate seen as having a chance at the presidency.

    NAN reports that early presidential elections in Iran will be held on Friday,  following the death of President Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash on May 19.(dpa/NAN) (www.nannews.ng)

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    Edited by Cecilia Odey

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  • Fire damages birthplace of former East German leader Erich Honecker

    Fire damages birthplace of former East German leader Erich Honecker

    Fire

    Frankfurt, June 26, 2024 (dpa/NAN) The former leader of communist East Germany’s, Erich Honecker birthplace on Wednesday caught fire and was damaged, according to a local police.

    Honecker led East Germany as both head of state and leader from 1971 until his removal from power in 1989, shortly before the collapse of the state.

    The house, in the town of Neunkirchen in western Germany, suffered a fire late Tuesday in the roof and attic areas which spread to neighbouring structures.

    Initial estimates by fire investigators put the damage at around €750,000 ($801,000).

    However, no one was hurt in the fire; an investigation into the cause remains ongoing.

    Honecker born in the home in Neunkirchen, in the state of Saarland, on August 25, 1912 and died 1994.

    Honecker only lived in Neunkirchen for a very short time.

    In 1913, the family moved to the neighbouring district of Wiebelskirchen. (dpa/NAN) (www.nannwes.ng)

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    Edited by Cecilia Odey and Abiemwense Moru

     

     

  • EU countries agree in principle new sanctions targeting Belarus

    EU countries agree in principle new sanctions targeting Belarus

    Sanction

    Brussels, June 26, 2024 (dpa/NAN) EU countries agrees in principle new punitive measures, targeting Belarus to strengthen existing sanctions on Russia, the Belgian EU presidency announced on Wednesday.

    “The Belgian EU Presidency said that the package would strengthen our measures in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and combating circumvention of sanctions.

    Since the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, the EU has targeted the Russian economy, institutions and officials linked to the war with multiple rounds of sanctions.

    As the invasion drags on, Russia has worked hard to circumvent the punitive measures, to secure more resources for their military and to keep their economy running.

    The EU diplomat said, Russia and Belarus are in a customs union, the new punitive measures on Minsk are meant to close “the biggest loophole” of the EU’s sanction regime.

    Meanwhile,”Belarus must no longer serve as a route to circumvent our sanctions against Russia, The European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said to welcome the agreement.

    Furthermore, Belarus is in long isolation since a crackdown on demonstrators protesting fraudulent elections in 2020.

    This has been sanctioned before by the EU for supporting the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine.

    This also includes an EU export ban on firearms and aviation technology to Belarus as well as prohibition on transactions with the Central Bank of Belarus.

    Belgium chaired the talks as current holder of the rotating EU presidency.

    An agreement was reached among representatives of the EU countries in Brussels.

    The new sanctions must now be finalised by national governments in a process known as written procedure.

    Further details about the new measures will then be made public. (Xinhua/NAN) (www.nannews.ng)

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    Edited by Cecilia Odey and Abiemwense Moru

     

     

     

  • Chinese Foreign Ministry refutes U.S. ambassador’s accusation of blocking exchanges

     

    Accusation

    Beijing, June 26, 2024 (Xinhua/NAN) Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning on Wednesday rebuked U.S. Ambassador to China Nicholas Burns for blaming China for blocking bilateral exchanges.

    She urged the U.S. side to take concrete actions to promote these exchanges.

    Mao made the remarks at a regular press briefing when asked to comment on the criticism from Burns, who reportedly said that China made it “impossible’’ to boost exchanges between the two countries.

    Burns made the comments while taking an interview, accusing China of preventing people from attending U.S. embassy events.

    Mao refuted Burns’s remarks, noting that they do not conform to the facts, deviate from the important consensus reached by the two heads of state at their meeting in San Francisco.

    Run counter to the correct way for China and the U.S… to proceed forward, and are not conducive to the sound and stable development of the bilateral ties.

    China has always developed its relations with the U.S. in accordance with the principles of mutual respect, peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation, and is committed to promoting people-to-people exchanges, the spokesperson said.

    Mao added that the Bond with Kuliang: 2024 China-U.S. Youth Festival is currently being held in Fuzhou, Fujian Province.

    This is the largest and most diversified youth exchange activity since the establishment of diplomatic ties between China and the U.S…

    Stressing that it is not the Chinese side that is interfering with the cultural exchanges between the two countries, but the U.S. side, Mao said that under the pretext of national security.

    The U.S. has unwarrantedly harassed, interrogated and repatriated Chinese students in the United States, causing great harm to the parties concerned.

    “We hope that the U.S. side will work with China to promote people-to-people and cultural exchanges with concrete actions and promote the sound and steady development of China-U.S. relations, Mao said. (Xinhua/NAN) (www.nannews.ng)

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    Edited by Cecilia Odey/Ekemini Ladejobi

     

  • Scientists warn Iceland’s volcanic eruptions could go on for decades

    Scientists warn Iceland’s volcanic eruptions could go on for decades

    Volcanic

    Copenhagen, June 26, 2024 (dpa/NAN) The latest series of volcanic eruptions in Iceland could last for decades or even centuries, according to a study published in the journal Terra Nova on Wednesday.

    The series of eruptions began in 2021 on the Reykjanes Peninsula in the southwest of the island, just 55 kilometres southwest of the capital Reykjavik.

    A large part of the population of the North Atlantic Island lives in the affected region.

    It is also home to the only international airport and several geothermal power plants that supply the country with hot water and electricity.

    There have been five major volcanic eruptions since December last year alone. Lava flowed out of elongated cracks in the earth, a phenomenon known a fissure eruption.

    Some houses were engulfed by lava.

    The researchers analysed earthquake data from the past three years and compared the chemical and physical properties of lava from various locations to determine whether it came from the same underground magma chamber.

    They found that it was indeed magma with similar petrographic properties.

    This suggests a coherent underground magma system, the researchers write.

    Taken with the seismic data, they believe that it is a moderately large magma accumulation at a depth of around nine to eleven kilometres, which extends over a width of ten kilometres.

    It formed between 2002 and 2020.

    The research team concluded that the current series of eruptions could be the beginning of a long episode, though they cannot predict how long the series will last.

    Iceland is located where the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates are moving apart.

    Volcanic eruptions are therefore frequent, but the eruptions of the more central volcanoes usually only last a few days or weeks.

    Fissure eruptions, on the other hand, can last much longer. (dpa/NAN) (www.nannews.ng)

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    Edited by Cecilia Odey/Bashir Rabe Mani

     

  • Storms, heavy rain wreak havoc in parts of Switzerland

    Storms, heavy rain wreak havoc in parts of Switzerland

    Rain

    Geneva, June 26, 2024 (dpa/NAN) Thunderstorms and heavy rain have caused flooding in Switzerland near Basel, in Geneva, and in the canton of Vaud on Lake Geneva, authorities reported.

    On Tuesday evening, police in the canton south of Basel received several hundred reports of flooded basements, power outages and other water damage.

    By Wednesday, the situation had calmed down.

    In the western canton of Vaud, the fire department was called out more than 200 times.

    In the town of Moges, the river reached flood levels that statistically are not expected even once in a hundred years, according to the police.

    No injuries were reported.

    In Geneva, severe thunderstorms and heavy rain led to a two-hour suspension of flight operations.

    A cooling room for servers in the Skyguide air traffic control building was affected by flooding.

    To prevent overheating of the control systems, the airspace was closed shortly after 10 p.m..

    Around 50 arrivals and departures were cancelled.

    Overnight camp beds and food were provided for around 100 passengers. On Wednesday, departures were cancelled for planes that had not been able to land on Tuesday evening.

    However, no major damage occurred and operations were back to normal, said a Geneva airport spokesman.

    Last week, a landslide after heavy rainfall swept away three houses in the eastern canton of Graubünden and destroyed part of the A13 motorway, an important route through the Alps.

    Of the four missing people, one woman was rescued and a man found dead. The other two individuals remain missing. (dpa/NAN) (www.nannews.ng)

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  • German foreign minister warns of regional escalation in Middle East

    German foreign minister warns of regional escalation in Middle East

    Warning

    Berlin, June 26, 2024 (dpa/NAN) German Foreign Minister, Annalena Baerbock has warned of unforeseeable consequences for the broader Middle East region as tensions and clashes increase between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah militia in Lebanon.

    Israeli forces have been waging an intense military offensive in the Gaza Strip for seven months.

    With the leaders vowing to destroy the Palestinian Hamas militant group in response to the bloody Oct. 7, terror attacks on Israel.

    “Another war will mean a regional escalation on a scale that we can hardly imagine.’’

    Baerbock told Germany’s Deutschlandfunk public radio on Wednesday, a day after meeting with Lebanese and Israeli leaders in Beirut and Jerusalem.

    However, Israel and Lebanon were in danger of slipping into such a war, she said.

    “And that is exactly what we need to prevent, that through the daily escalation, where more rockets are flying, large parts on both sides do not want this war, but we are slipping into it.”

    Baerbock said Lebanese leaders in Beirut appeared to view the same way, but unfortunately the government has no effective access on the ground, not even to Hezbollah.

    Baerbock said, making efforts by mediators like the U.S. and France all the more important.

    According to Baerbock, what happens next in the Gaza Strip would also be crucial for further developments on Israel’s northern border with Lebanon.

    “If this urgently needed ceasefire is finally achieved in Gaza, then that will also calm the northern front,’’ she said.

    An escalation that saw Israel fighting wars on two fronts would be fatal to the process.

    A plan presented last month by U.S. President Joe Biden for a ceasefire in the Gaza war is supported by the Israeli government, said Baerbock, who again demanded that Hamas accept the plan. (dpa/NAN) (www.nannews.ng)

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    Edited by Cecilia Odey/Halima Sheji

     

  • NATO appoints outgoing Dutch premier Mark Rutte as secretary-general

    NATO appoints outgoing Dutch premier Mark Rutte as secretary-general

    Appointment

    Brussels, June 26, 2024 (dpa/NAN) NATO has appointed outgoing Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte to succeed Jens Stoltenberg in October as the alliance’s next Secretary-General.

    Welcoming the selection of Rutte, Stoltenberg said Rutte was a true Trans-Atlanticist, a strong leader, and a consensus-builder.

    “I wish him every success as we continue to strengthen NATO for the challenges of today and tomorrow. I know I am leaving NATO in good hands,’’ he added.

    Rutte, a centre-right politician who is the longest-serving prime minister in Dutch history, said his appointment was a “tremendous honour’’ in a post on X.

    Paying tribute to Stoltenberg’s leadership, Rutte said he was grateful to all the allies for placing their trust in him.

    The appointment for an initial four-year term was made by the North Atlantic Council, which was the decision-making body of the alliance made up of ambassadors to NATO.

    The Dutch prime minister became secretary-general at a challenging time for the Western military alliance, facing down a more aggressive Russia and supporting Ukraine amid Moscow’s ongoing invasion.

    NATO is also concerned about the rising military strength of Beijing and views China as a challenge to the alliance’s security.

    Rutte, 57, is tasked with the political leadership of NATO and ensuring a consensus can be found within the alliance for difficult issues, especially in times of crisis.

    The potential return of former U.S. President Donald Trump to the White House in November would be a major test for Rutte.

    Past statements from Trump have cast doubt on U.S. collective defence commitments to the alliance.

    He has also threatened to withdraw the U.S. from NATO.

    Trump also repeatedly criticised what he viewed as low defence spending among European allies.

    The NATO secretary general also represents the defence alliance at international level and heads the NATO headquarters as the highest administrative official.

    After a decade in the office, Stoltenberg’s term is due to end on Oct. 1.

    His term was extended in March 2022, shortly after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, until September 2023.

    Unable to agree on his successor, NATO allies then extended his mandate again until 2024.

    The Norwegian was already the second-longest serving secretary general, after Dutchman Joseph Luns who led NATO from 1971 to 1984.

    Stoltenberg has earned recognition as a skillful mediator between the sometimes very different interests of the now 32 NATO members, especially shepherding Sweden and Finland into the alliance against initial Turkish opposition.

    He was credited with moderating the debate over low defence spending by the European allies, which led to particularly heated debates during Trump’s time in office.

    He has also had to coordinate NATO’s response to Russia’s war in Ukraine.

    Rutte, who became prime minister in 2010, quickly became the frontrunner to be the next NATO chief after receiving the early support of the U.S., Germany and Britain.

    Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, former British defence minister Ben Wallace and Romanian President Klaus Iohannis were also candidates.

    Resistance from Hungary also needed to be overcome after Rutte clashed with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán over EU policy, corruption and rule of law issues. (dpa/NAN) (www.nannews.ng)

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    Edited by Cecilia Odey/Bashir Rabe Mani

     

  • Espionage trial of U.S. reporter Evan Gershkovich begins in Russia

    Espionage trial of U.S. reporter Evan Gershkovich begins in Russia

    Trial

    Moscow, June 26, 2024 (dpa/NAN) The trial of U.S. Reporter Evan Gershkovich, who has been imprisoned in Russia for more than a year for alleged espionage, began on Wednesday.

    It is in a case described as a sham by his supporters, employer and the U.S. government.

    The high-profile trial of the correspondent for the Wall Street Journal Newspaper is taking place in the city of Yekaterinburg in the Urals.

    The 32-year-old reporter denied the charges.

    Images from the courtroom showed Gershkovich, wearing jeans and a button-down shirt, standing in a glass cage.

    Gershkovich was detained at the end of March 2023 while on a research trip in Yekaterinburg.

    A spokesman for the Russian Prosecutor General’s Office said that an investigation had found Gershkovich had collected secret information on behalf of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).

    Specifically, Russia alleged that he collected information on the production and repair of defence equipment at the Uralvagonzavod factory in Nizhny Tagil, which lied to the north of Yekaterinburg.

    “There’s absolutely zero credibility to those charges,’’ said U.S. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller in Washington earlier this month.

    Many media outlets have called for his release. U.S. President Joe Biden has promised to fight for his freedom.

    According to the Kremlin, talks were under way regarding an exchange of prisoners for Gershkovich.

    The detention of U.S. citizens in Russia often leads to complicated negotiations between Moscow and Washington about a release or exchange.

    In spite of tense U.S.-Russian relations, prisoner exchanges have repeatedly taken place in the past. (dpa/NAN) (www.nannews.ng)

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    Edited by Cecilia Odey/Bashir Rabe Mani

  • EU leaders agree to 2nd term for von der Leyen

    Agreement

    Brussels, June 25, 2024 (dpa/NAN) EU leaders negotiating the bloc’s top jobs have agreed to nominate Ursula von der Leyen for a second term as European Commission president, sources involved in the talks said on Tuesday.

    As part of the deal, negotiators also agreed that former Portuguese Prime Minister António Costa is to be the next European Council president.

    Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas is to be the European Union’s new foreign policy chief.

    The agreement came ahead of the summit of EU leaders on June 20 to 21 in Brussels to decide on who would lead the European Union’s institutions for the next five years.

    To be nominated, von der Leyen needed the support of a “reinforced qualified majority’’ of EU leaders, representing at least 20 countries and 65 per cent of the European Union’s population.

    A total of 13 EU leaders in political parties affiliated to the centre-right European People’s Party (EPP), boosting her chances after a strong EPP result in the European Parliament elections.

    After her nomination by EU leaders, von der Leyen needs to be approved by a majority in the European Parliament in the coming weeks.

    Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis negotiated on behalf of the EPP for von der Leyen, a centre-right German Christian Democrat and EPP member.

    French President Emmanuael Macron and outgoing Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte negotiated on behalf of the liberals and Kallas.

    German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez represented Costa in the talks for the centre-left Socialists and Democrats (S&D) group.

    The EPP, aiming to capitalise on their advantage, pushed to break the convention of two consecutive two-and-a-half-year terms for the role of European Council president.

    For this reason Costa’s second term in the role was not guaranteed.

    Talks in Brussels last week broke up among EU leaders without a decision on a second term for von der Leyen.

    The political backing for von der Leyen was expected to end months of speculation over whom EU leaders might nominate for the bloc’s top job following the recent European Parliament elections.

    The commission president is in charge of the EU’s powerful executive arm, charged with developing new EU policies, enforcing existing EU laws and representing the bloc at important international summits like the G7. (dpa/ NAN) (www.nannews.ng)

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    Edited by Cecilia Odey/Halima Sheji