Germany, France and Italy said on Monday they would suspend AstraZeneca Covid-19 shots after several countries reported possible serious side-effects, but the World Health Organization (WHO) said there was no proven link and people should not panic. Still, the decision by the European Union’s three biggest countries to put inoculations with the AstraZeneca shot on hold threw the already struggling vaccination campaign in the 27-nation EU into disarray. Denmark and Norway stopped giving the shot last week after reporting isolated cases of bleeding, blood clots and a low platelet count. Iceland and Bulgaria followed suit and Ireland and the Netherlands…

The Vatican declared Monday that the Catholic Church won’t bless same-sex unions since God “cannot bless sin.” The Vatican’s orthodoxy office, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, issued a formal response to a question about whether Catholic clergy have the authority to bless gay unions. The answer, contained in a two-page explanation published in seven languages and approved by Pope Francis, was “negative.” The note distinguished between the church’s welcoming and blessing of gay people, which it upheld, but not their unions. It argued that such unions are not part of God’s plan and that any sacramental recognition…

Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) has sued the federal government over implementation of the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA) 2020. On August 7, President Muhammadu Buhari signed CAMA into law. The law stipulates that religious bodies and charity organisations will be regulated by the registrar-general of the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) and a minister. CAMA 2020 provides that the commission may by order, suspend the trustees of an association or a religious body and appoint an interim manager or managers to coordinate its affairs, where it reasonably believes that there has been any misconduct or mismanagement, or where the…

Asari Dokubo, leader of Niger Delta Peoples Salvation Force, has declared the formation of Biafra Customary Government (BCG). Uche Mefor, BCG’s head of information and communications, said Dokubo also named those who would serve as leaders in the government alongside himself. He added that they would proceed to set up provincial structures for the new government. “We as people have resolved that as Biafra, it’s time for us to take our destiny in our hands and bring freedom to ourselves and our children and the generation of Biafrans yet unborn,” he said. “I hesitate a little but I thank God…