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Author: Emmanuel Yashim

  • Israeli polls show Netanyahu party narrowing gap behind Gantz

    Israeli polls show Netanyahu party narrowing gap behind Gantz

    Polls

    Jerusalem, June 14, 2024 (Reuters/NAN) Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing Likud party has reduced the gap behind the centrist party of former minister Benny Gantz, who quit the wartime unity government on Sunday, two polls showed on Friday.
    The polls, for the left-wing Ma’ariv daily and the right-wing Israel Hayom newspaper, showed Likud winning 21 seats behind the National Unity Party on 24.
    The Ma’ariv poll last week showed Gantz’s party on 27 seats, while at the start of the year, it was regularly polling in the high 30s.
    The Ma’ariv poll shows the current ruling coalition winning 52 seats in the 120-seat Knesset, against 58 for the main opposition parties, with the balance of 10 seats held by the United Arab List and the left-wing Hadash-Ta’al alliance.
    The Israel Hayom poll put the coalition on 50 seats against 61 for the opposition parties and 9 for the UAL and Hadash-Ta’al.
    Both polls showed a majority of voters would prefer Gantz as prime minister in a head-to-head choice with Netanyahu.
    However, the Israel Hayom poll showed that if former prime minister Naftali Bennett were to join forces with Avigdor Liberman and Gideon Saar, two other centre-right politicians from outside the Likud camp, their alliance could beat both Likud and Gantz’s National Unity Party.
    Gantz, a former army general and defence minister in the last government, joined Netanyahu’s coalition last year as a gesture of national unity following the devastating attack by Hamas on Oct 7.
    However, he clashed repeatedly with other ministers and quit the government after demanding Netanyahu articulate a clear strategic plan for the war in Gaza, now in its ninth month.
    Netanyahu, who was widely blamed for the security failures that allowed the Oct. 7 attack to take place, has refused to call early elections and would not normally face voters until 2026 if his coalition with a clutch of religious and right-wing pro-settler parties holds. (Reuters/NAN) (www.nannews.ng)
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    (Edited by Emmanuel Yashim)

  • U.S. issues 300 new sanctions that go after Russia’s war economy

    U.S. issues 300 new sanctions that go after Russia’s war economy

    Sanctions

    Bari (Italy), June 12, 2024 (dpa/NAN) The United States said on Wednesday it was imposing sanctions on more than 300 individuals and entities connected to Russia’s war on Ukraine, including financial institutions, the Moscow Stock Exchange, and Chinese companies.

    The announcement came a day before U.S. President Joe Biden joins other Group of Seven (G7) leaders for a summit in the Italian city of Bari, in which the war in Ukraine is set to feature prominently.

    The sweeping set of sanctions is chiefly focused on trade, finance, and industry.

    U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the sanctions hit “across multiple sectors essential to Russia’s war effort,” including energy, metals, and mining production.

    China was singled out for its support of Moscow.

    “The United States remains concerned by the scale and breadth of exports from the People’s Republic of China that supply Russia’s military-industrial base,” Blinken’s statement said.

    To that end, the US is sanctioning Chinese companies that provide duel-use goods that “fill critical gaps in Russia’s defence production cycle,” he said.

    It is not just China, however. Individuals and organizations in countries elsewhere in Asia, the Middle East, Europe, Africa, and the Caribbean are also subject to new restrictive measures.

    Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said Russia “is deeply isolated from the international financial system, leaving the Kremlin’s military desperate for access to the outside world.”

    She said the sanctions go after critical supplies Russia needs from other countries.

    Several Russian banks also saw their foreign locations put on blacklists to make it harder for financial transactions to be fulfilled.

    Other corners of Russia’s financial infrastructure were hit, including the Moscow Stock Exchange and two subsidiaries, and insurance and reinsurance providers.

    The Treasury Department said it was trying to choke off military supply chains by sanctioning dozens of individuals and entities in a slew of countries besides Russia and China.

    Some of the newly listed targets will help close sanction loopholes or go after evaders, it said.

    The department said sanctions affected people and firms in places such as Belarus, the British Virgin Islands, Bulgaria, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Serbia, South Africa, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates. (dpa/NAN) (www.nan.ng)

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    (Edited by Emmanuel Yashim)

  • NiDCOM chief condemns `modern-day slavery’ in form of human trafficking

    NiDCOM chief condemns `modern-day slavery’ in form of human trafficking

    Trafficking

    By Mercy Eletta

    Abuja, June 11, 2024 (NAN) Hon. Abike Dabiri-Erewa, Chairman/CEO of Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM), has condemned in strong terms, modern-day slavery in the form of human trafficking.

    Dabiri-Erewa condemned the practice in her remarks in Ghana where she visited 10 Nigerian girls trafficked to that country for prostitution under the guise of their employment as sales girls.

    This is contained in a statement by Gabriel Odu of NiDCOM’s Public Relations and Protocol Unit.

    The statement indicated that Dabiri-Erewa praised Chief Calistus Elozieuwa, the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Nigerians in Diaspora Organisation (NIDO)- Ghana, for the effort made by him and his board members to secure the release of the girls.

    The NiDCOM CEO emphasised the need for an end to human trafficking in Nigeria, saying: “We must declare a war against human traffickers.”

    She urged parents to find out the whereabouts of their children at all times when taken away by relatives or friends.

    She also called for collaborative efforts at naming and arresting traffickers.

    Dabiri-Erewa further said the rescued girls would be handed over to the officials of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons, which will in turn hand them over to their various states for counselling and rehabilitation.

    Speaking at the event, according to the statement, Amb. Adeoye Ifedayo, the acting Nigerian High Commissioner to Ghana, applauded NIDO-Ghana for rescuing the girls.

    Ifedayo stressed the need for stakeholders to make conscious efforts to end human trafficking.

    The statement mentioned that Amara Iwuanyanwu, the Deputy Speaker of the Imo House of Assembly, who represented the governor of the state, Hope Uzodinma, reiterated the government’s commitment to improving the welfare of the rescued girls.

    The delegation from Nigeria consisting of NiDCOM and Imo Stae Government officials met with the top echelon of the Ghanaian Police who pledged to cooperate in the war against human trafficking.

    According to the statement, the delegation later met with the girls who were in high spirits and looked forward to returning home.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the news of the situation of the girls went viral after they were intercepted by officials of NIDO-Ghana, preventing them from continuing to their destination.

    NIDO-Ghana officials then promptly alerted NiDCOM back in Nigeria, leading to the swift intervention, the statement added. (NAN) (www.nan.ng)

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    (Edited by Emmanuel Yashim)

  • UN Security Council backs Israel-Hamas ceasefire plan

    UN Security Council backs Israel-Hamas ceasefire plan

    Ceasefire

    United Nations, June 11, 2024 (Reuters/NAN) The United Nations Security Council has backed a proposal outlined by President Joe Biden for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip and urged the Palestinian militants to accept the deal aimed at ending the eight-month-long war.
    Hamas welcomed the adoption of the U.S.-drafted resolution, saying in a statement that it is ready to cooperate with mediators over implementing the principles of the plan “that are consistent with the demands of our people and resistance.”
    Russia abstained from the UN vote, while the remaining 14 Security Council members voted in favour of the resolution supporting a three-phase ceasefire plan laid out by Biden on May 31 that he described as an Israeli initiative.
    “Today we voted for peace,” U.S. Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield told the council after the vote.
    The resolution welcomes the new ceasefire proposal, states that Israel has accepted it, calls on Hamas to agree to it, and “urges both parties to implement its terms without delay fully, and without condition.”
    Algeria, the only Arab member state in the council, supported the resolution because “we believe it can represent a step forward toward an immediate and lasting ceasefire,” Algeria’s UN Ambassador Amar Bendjama told the council.
    “It offers a glimmer of hope to the Palestinians,” he said, adding: “It’s time to halt the killing.“
    The resolution also provides details on the proposal and indicates that “if the negotiations take longer than six weeks for phase one, the ceasefire will continue as long as negotiations continue.”
    However, it did not contain enough detail for Moscow.
    Russia’s UN Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia asked what Israel had specifically agreed to and said the Security Council should not be signing up to agreements with “vague parameters.”
    “We did not wish to block the resolution simply because it, as much as we understand, is supported by the Arab world,” Nebenzia told the council.
    Israel’s UN Ambassador Gilad Erdan was present for the vote but did not address the council.
    Instead, senior Israeli UN diplomat Reut Shapir Ben Naftaly told the body that Israel’s goals in Gaza had always been clear.
    “Israel is committed to these goals – to free all the hostages, to destroy Hamas’ military and governing capabilities, and to ensure that Gaza does not pose a threat to Israel in the future,” she said.
    “It is Hamas that is preventing this war from ending. Hamas and Hamas alone,” she added.
    The council in March demanded an immediate ceasefire and unconditional release of all hostages held by Hamas.
    For months, negotiators from the U.S., Egypt, and Qatar have been trying to mediate a ceasefire.
    Hamas says it wants a permanent end to the war in the Gaza Strip and Israeli withdrawal from the enclave of 2.3 million people.
    Israel is retaliating against Hamas, which rules Gaza, over an Oct. 7 attack by its militants.
    More than 1,200 people were killed and no fewer than 250 were taken hostage by Hamas on Oct. 7, according to Israeli tallies.
    More than 100 hostages are believed to remain captive in Gaza.
    Israel launched an air, ground, and sea assault on the Palestinian territory, killing more than 37,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health authorities. (Reuters/NAN) (www.nan.ng)
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    (Edited by Emmanuel Yashim)

  • S/Korea suspends military agreement with N/Korea

    S/Korea suspends military agreement with N/Korea

    Agreement

    Seoul, June 4, 2024 (dpa/NAN) South Korea’s government has approved suspending an agreement with North Korea on détente measures, clearing the way for resuming all military activities along the heavily fortified border between the two countries.

    Vice Defence Minister Cho Chang Rae said that all activities of its armed forces along the military demarcation line and on the north-western islands, which were restricted by the 2018 military agreement, would resume in Seoul on Tuesday.

    The Cabinet and President Yoon Suk Yeol approved a temporary motion to lift the agreement.

    In September 2018, the two sides agreed to a series of measures as part of a temporary rapprochement to avoid incidents along the heavily defended border.

    There have been increasing tensions on the Korean peninsula over the past few months.

    South Korea recently warned North Korea of harsh counter-measures after balloons carrying refuse were sent over the border.

    South Korea’s military also accused its neighbour of jamming the GPS satellite navigation system in the border region.

    Pyongyang described its balloons as a response to propaganda flyers sent over the border by South Korean organisations.

    It said on Sunday that it planned to halt the balloon campaign temporarily.

    The 2018 agreement provided for no-fly zones in the border area and a ban on naval manoeuvres in a buffer zone in the Yellow Sea.

    South Korea suspended parts of the agreement in November due to the launch of a spy satellite by North Korea.

    Pyongyang then announced that it would no longer honour any parts of the agreement.

    Cho did not give any details about planned military activities on the border.

    However, the suspension of the agreement means that South Korea can, again, hold military exercises close to the border line. (dpa/NAN) (www.nan.ng)

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    (Edited by Emmanuel Yashim)

  • Palestinians to join S/Africa’s genocide lawsuit against Israel

    Palestinians to join S/Africa’s genocide lawsuit against Israel

    Lawsuit

    Amsterdam, June 4, 2024 (dpa/NAN) The Palestinians plan to join South Africa’s genocide lawsuit against Israel currently before the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

    The Palestinian Foreign Ministry in Ramallah has applied to join the case, the court announced in The Hague on Monday evening.

    The ministry requested this on behalf of Palestine, which the United Nations has not recognised as a state, but has observer status at the UN.

    It is unclear when the court will rule on the Palestinian application.

    If it were approved, the Palestinian authorities would be allowed to participate in the proceedings.

    Other countries have also signalled their intention to join South Africa’s lawsuit.

    These include Colombia, Libya, and Nicaragua.

    South Africa filed a complaint against Israel with the highest court of the United Nations at the end of 2023, accusing the state of violating the Genocide Convention due to its attacks on the Gaza Strip.

    In three decisions to date, the court has obliged Israel to take immediate measures to protect civilians.

    However, the main proceedings on the accusation of genocide are not affected by this.

    It could drag on for years.

    Israel has strictly rejected the accusations and invoked its right to self-defense following the terrorist attack by the Palestinian militant group Hamas and other groups on Oct. 7.

    Around 1,200 people were murdered in the attack.

    According to the Palestinian authorities, more than 36,000 people have been killed by Israeli attacks since then. (dpa/NAN) (www.nan.ng)

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    (Edited by Emmanuel Yashim)

  • Maldives to ban Israeli passport holders from visiting over Gaza war

    Maldives to ban Israeli passport holders from visiting over Gaza war

    Passport

    New Dehli/Tel Aviv, June 3, 2024 (dpa/NAN) The government of the Maldives said plans were on to bar Israeli nationals from entering the archipelago due to the ongoing Gaza war.

    The cabinet had recommended amending “necessary laws to prevent Israeli passport holders from entering the Maldives,” the office of President Mohamed Muizzu said on Sunday.

    Muizzu had decided to follow the proposal, it said.

    The ban would be enforced as soon as possible, Interior Minister Ali Ihusaan told journalists.

    “Additionally, in the case of Palestine and Israel, the President decided to appoint a special envoy to assess Palestinian needs,” the statement continued.

    “The President further decided to set up a fundraising campaign to assist our brothers and sisters in Palestine with the help of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East.”

    The Israeli Foreign Ministry responded by recommending that Israeli citizens refrain from travelling to the Maldives, a high-end holiday destination known for its white beaches, coral reefs, and crystal waters.

    The ministry said those already in the country should consider returning to Israel.

    Israel issued a travel warning for the Maldives in December, citing anti-Israeli sentiments over the Gaza war in the Muslim-majority country where Islam is the state religion.

    The two nations don’t maintain full diplomatic ties, but Israelis have so far been able to holiday in the Maldives.

    Last year, some 11,000 Israeli tourists visited the archipelago, according to Maldives officials. (dpa/NAN) (www.nan.ng)

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    (Edited by Emmanuel Yashim)

  • Woman diagnosed with rare condition that makes her appear drunk

    Woman diagnosed with rare condition that makes her appear drunk

    Diagnosis

    London, June 3, 2024 (PA Media/dpa/NAN) A 50-year-old woman who visited hospital seven times with slurred speech and extreme tiredness, only to be discharged with a diagnosis of being drunk, had a rare condition that gave her the appearance of being intoxicated.

    This happened even after saying she had not been drinking.

    Called auto-brewery syndrome, the condition sees fungi in the gut create alcohol through fermentation.

    Researchers say awareness of this syndrome – which has social, legal, and medical consequences – is essential for proper diagnosis and management.

    Over two years the woman visited the emergency department complaining of extreme daytime sleepiness and slurred speech.

    She had been on several antibiotic courses for recurrent urinary tract infections alongside a proton pump inhibitor to reduce the amount of acid in her stomach.

    Despite not drinking alcohol, she also had elevated blood alcohol levels and alcohol on her breath.

    After each hospital visit the woman was discharged with the diagnosis of alcohol intoxication, despite her reports of no alcohol intake, which her family confirmed.

    The patient needed up to two weeks off work after each episode and during this time she ate very little.

    Her symptoms would improve after one to two weeks but would return every one to two months.

    On the third visit, the mother was even certificated under the Mental Health Act, as the doctor had concerns about self-neglect when she discharged herself before psychiatric assessment.

    However, on her seventh visit the emergency doctor considered a diagnosis of auto-brewery syndrome, and after being prescribed some medication, she was referred to a specialist.

    A dietitian suggested a low-carbohydrate diet, and after completing a one-month course of antifungal medication and the diet, the woman’s symptoms went away and remained absent for four months.

    The woman slowly started to eat carbohydrates again, but one month after doing this she had a recurrence of slurred speech and drowsiness, which led to a fall.

    She was advised to restart the low-carbohydrate diet again, and her symptoms resolved.

    Writing in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, Dr Rahel Zewude, University of Toronto, and her co-authors, said: “Auto-brewery syndrome carries substantial social, legal, and medical consequences for patients and their loved ones.

    “Our patient had several (emergency department) visits was assessed by internists and psychiatrists, and was certified under the Mental Health Act before receiving a diagnosis of the auto-brewery syndrome, reinforcing how awareness of this syndrome is essential for clinical diagnosis and management.” (dpa/NAN) (www.nan.ng)

    YEE

    (Edited by Emmanuel Yashim)

  • Several killed by suspected Israeli strikes in Syria – Reports

    Several killed by suspected Israeli strikes in Syria – Report

    Strikes

    Beirut, June 3, 2024 (dpa/NAN) Several people were killed in a suspected Israeli attack near Aleppo in north-western Syria, state media reported early Monday citing a military source.

    The area around Aleppo was targeted by airstrikes overnight, it said.

    The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported missiles had hit the positions of a pro-Iranian militia in the Hayan area north of Aleppo.

    The information could not initially be independently verified.

    There was initially no comment from the Israeli side.

    Israel’s air force repeatedly bombs targets in neighbouring Syria, to prevent its arch-enemy Iran and militias allied with Tehran from expanding their military influence in the region.

    Iran is one of Syria’s most important allies.

    Since the start of the war in the Gaza Strip almost eight months ago, Israeli attacks, most of which are not officially confirmed by Israel, have increased. (dpa/NAN) (www.nan.ng)

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    (Edited by Emmanuel Yashim)