Madagascar's president has fired his foreign affairs minister for voting at the United Nations to condemn Russian-organised referendums to annex four partially-occupied regions in Ukraine, two sources at the president's office said. Last Wednesday, the U.N. General Assembly voted overwhelmingly to condemn what it said was Russia's "attempted illegal annexation" of the four regions in Ukraine and called on all countries not to recognise the move. Of the 193-member General Assembly, 143 countries voted in support of a resolution that also reaffirmed the sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity of Ukraine within its internationally recognised borders. Two senior officials at…

Ukraine's military tightened the noose around Russian forces occupying the southern city of Kherson as the government ordered nationwide curbs on electricity use because of Russian missile and drone attacks on power plants. ON THE GROUND * Russian-installed authorities in the region of Kherson plan to evacuate about 50,000-60,000 people over the next six days. * A Russian missile strike hit a major thermal power station in the city of Burshtyn in western Ukraine, the region's governor said, the latest in a wave of attacks on infrastructure ahead of winter. * In a package of moves apparently intended to counter…

National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) says the 36 states of the federation and the federal capital territory (FCT) recorded N1.89 trillion in internally generated revenue (IGR) in 2021. The statistical office said this in its latest IGR report. According to the report, the 36 states and the FCT raked in N1.56 trillion IGR in 2020. The 2021 figure (N1.89 trillion) indicates a positive growth of 22 percent year-on-year, as states bounced out of the coronavirus pandemic. Analysis by TheCable Index shows that Lagos state had the highest IGR with N753.3 billion, representing 40 percent of the total IGR in 2021.…

The new commander of Russian forces in Ukraine made a rare acknowledgment of the pressures they were under from Ukrainian offensives to retake southern and eastern areas that Moscow claims to have annexed just weeks ago. ON THE GROUND * The situation in areas Russia claims to have annexed was "tense", said Sergei Surovikin, a Russian general appointed this month to take charge of its forces. Russian troops in some areas were under continuous attack, he said. * Russian-appointed governor of Kherson announced the evacuation of four towns in the region. * Russian air strikes have destroyed 30% of Ukraine's…