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Monday, 07 March 2022 06:16

Russia provides alternative to MasterCard, Visa payment systems

Consumers will still be able to use Mastercard and Visa-branded cards for domestic transactions in Russia, the country’s state-backed payments network has said, reducing the impact of the US firms’ decision to pull services over the invasion of Ukraine. Russia’s homegrown payments system Mir said the cardholders would still be able to access their funds, make withdrawals and domestic transfers – at least until their bank cards expire. Mir has processed most domestic payments in Russia since 2015, while foreign operators such as Visa and Mastercard continued to run international transactions. The operator – which is 100% owned by the…

Sunday, 06 March 2022 06:26

Saudi Arabia lifts ban on Nigerian flights, greenlights 2022 Hajj

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has lifted the ban imposed on Nigerian flights in the wake of the emergence of Omicron Covid-19 variant. The ban was imposed on December 8, 2021, thereby stalling all Umrah preparations by the Hajj and Umrah operators in Nigeria. The lifting of restrictions was announced on Saturday, with the Kingdom also removing many Covid-19 restrictions, giving a green light for 2022 Hajj exercise. According to the announcement sighted on Saudi Gazette Twitter page, the Kingdom also lifted the suspension of direct flights and arrival from 17 other countries. The countries are South Africa, Namibia, Botswana,…

Sunday, 06 March 2022 06:25

What to know after Day 10 of Russia-Ukraine war

President Putin continued to pin the blame for Russia’s war against Ukraine on the Ukrainian leadership, saying if they “continue to do what they are doing, they are calling into question the future of Ukrainian statehood.” But President Zelenskyy urged resistance. He said Ukranians managed to keep control of key cities in central and southeastern Ukraine. In a video address to the nation, he urged Ukrainians in cities taken over by the Russian forces to fight back. “It is a special kind of heroism -- to protest when your city is occupied,” Zelenskyy said. “Ukrainians in all of our cities…

Sunday, 06 March 2022 06:24

Western sanctions are akin to declaration of war - Putin

President Vladimir Putin said on Saturday that Western sanctions on Russia were akin to a declaration of war and warned that any attempt to impose a no-fly zone in Ukraine would be tantamount to entering the conflict. Putin reiterated that his aims in Ukraine are to defend Russian speaking communities through the “demilitarisation and de-Nazification” of the country so that it became neutral. Ukraine and Western countries have dismissed this as a baseless pretext for the invasion he launched on Feb. 24 and have imposed a sweeping range of sanctions aimed at isolating Moscow. “These sanctions that are being imposed…

Sunday, 06 March 2022 06:21

China seeks to unify public in support for Russia

As the West condemns Russia, President Vladimir Putin has vocal supporters in China, where the ruling Communist Party tells its people they are fellow targets of U.S.-led harassment. “If Russia is destroyed, we will be next. This is for sure,” said Wang Yongchun, a retiree in Beijing. “The United States wants to dominate the world.” Such comments reflect the stance of a ruling party that is the closest thing Putin has to a major ally: The war should stop but the United States is to blame. President Xi Jinping’s government has tried to distance itself from Russia’s offensive but avoided…

Saturday, 05 March 2022 06:14

Buhari makes surprise return to Abuja, postpones London medical trip

President Muhammadu Buhari is still expected to travel to London, United Kingdom, for his medical checkup despite his surprise return to the country. The president’s aircraft touched down at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, at about 1pm on Friday. Bashir Ahmad, personal assistant to the president on new media, had tweeted Buhari’s arrival in the country. “President Muhammadu Buhari has returned to Abuja, after his participation in the 50th Anniversary of the UN Environmental Programme (UNEP) in Nairobi, Kenya,” he wrote on his Twitter handle. The president’s return took many by surprise, given the earlier spelt-out details of his…

Saturday, 05 March 2022 06:13

Police approve hijab, earrings for female officers

Usman Baba, the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), has approved a new dress code allowing hijab for female officers in the Nigeria Police Force (NPF). According to the police, the new dress code also allows female officers to wear stud earrings under their berets or peak caps while in uniform. Olumuyiwa Adejobi, the force spokesperson, in a statement on Friday, said the new dress code was unveiled on Thursday at a meeting involving the IGP and “strategic police managers”. Adejobi said the new dress code was approved to guarantee gender inclusion in the police for “optimum output and professionalism”. “The IGP…

Saturday, 05 March 2022 06:12

What to know after Day 9 of Russia-Ukraine war

Russia’s war on Ukraine is in its ninth day. U.N. and Ukrainian officials say no radiation was released from a Russian attack at Europe’s biggest nuclear power plant. One building caught fire and firefighters have extinguished the blaze. Russian forces continued to press a campaign that has brought global condemnation. People across Ukraine have taken up arms and sought shelter. More than 1.2 million people have fled to neighboring countries, the U.N. refugee agency said Friday. NATO is refusing to police a no-fly zone over Ukraine. The 30-nation military organization believes such a move could provoke widespread war in Europe…

Saturday, 05 March 2022 06:10

We don't seek conflict with Russia but we are ready for it, US says

NATO will defend all its allies and territory against a Russian attack, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Friday, as he arrived for a meeting of the alliance's foreign ministers in Brussels. "Ours is a defensive alliance. We seek no conflict. But if conflict comes to us we are ready for it and we will defend every inch of NATO territory," he told reporters, while condemning what he called Russian attacks on civilians in Ukraine. "And overnight, we've also seen reports about the attack against a nuclear power plant. This just demonstrates the recklessness of this war and…

Saturday, 05 March 2022 06:09

Putin warns Russia's neighbours against escalating tensions

President Vladimir Putin urged Russia's neighbours on Friday not to escalate tensions, eight days after Moscow sent its forces into Ukraine. "There are no bad intentions towards our neighbours. And I would also advise them not to escalate the situation, not to introduce any restrictions. We fulfil all our obligations and will continue to fulfil them," Putin said in televised remarks. "We do not see any need here to aggravate or worsen our relations. And all our actions, if they arise, they always arise exclusively in response to some unfriendly actions, actions against the Russian Federation." Putin was shown on…

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Saturday, 05 March 2022 06:08

‘All of humanity at risk from heightened nuclear threat’ - UN

UN human rights chief warned humanity is at risk amid increasing nuclear threat Michelle Bachelet slammed Russia's attack on Ukraine in a speech in Geneva Russia's Foreign Minister previously accused Western politicians of fixating on nuclear war, after Putin put the world's largest nuclear arsenal on high alert The UN human rights chief slammed Russia's attack on Ukraine on Thursday and cautioned that heightened nuclear threat levels showed all of humanity was at risk from Putin’s invasion. Speaking before the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, Michelle Bachelet warned that Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, launched a week ago, 'is…

Saturday, 05 March 2022 06:07

It’s a ‘painful decision’, NATO says in rejecting Ukraine’s request for no-fly zone against Russia

NATO nations will not impose a no-fly zone over Ukraine, despite pleas from some in Ukraine. Secretary Jens Stoltenberg called it a "painful decision," saying that NATO has a responsibility not to escalate the conflict by engaging Russian forces directly in Ukraine, either on the ground or in the air. Enforcing a no-fly zone would involve NATO planes in Ukraine potentially shooting down Russian planes, Stoltenberg said Friday. President Biden's administration has likewise ruled out such a move, saying it is "not going to happen." "We understand the desperation, but we also believe that if we did that, would end…

Saturday, 05 March 2022 06:06

Ukrainian president refutes reports of his fleeing country

Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky has stated that he continues to work at his office in the country’s capital of Kiev, according to a video on Instagram, which presumably shows the presidential office. "Reports come every other day that I have allegedly fled from Ukraine, from Kiev, from my office. I am here, and [Head of the Presidential Office] Andrey Borisovich [Yermak] is also here. No one has fled," Zelensky stated in the video. Russian State Duma (the lower house of parliament) Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin said earlier that Zelenksy had left Ukraine for Poland. TASS

Saturday, 05 March 2022 06:04

'It's going to get worse': If Russia resorts to siege tactics, the Ukraine war could take a horrible turn - Experts

Russian President Vladimir Putin's military forces seem poised to adopt siege tactics that could result in enormous civilian deaths and infrastructure damage after their initial assault has failed to topple the Ukrainian government, officials and experts say. Putin and his military commanders have been caught off guard by the ferocious resistance of Ukrainian troops and ordinary citizens. His main assault force for the capital of Kyiv remains bogged down about 15 miles from the city, harassed by Ukrainian attacks and hobbled by a lack of fuel for combat vehicles and food for the Russian soldiers, a senior Defense Department official…

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