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Monday, 02 September 2019 05:02

Protests on roads near Hong Kong airport disrupt air travel

Anti-government protesters blocked roads near Hong Kong’s airport with burning barricades and damaged a train station Sunday after a night of violent clashes with police. Train and some bus service to the airport on the outlying island of Chek Lap Kok were suspended. Some passengers walked to the airport, one of Asia’s busiest, carrying their luggage, but some flights were delayed. Hong Kong has been the scene of tense anti-government protests for nearly three months. The demonstrations began in response to a proposed extradition law and have expanded to include other grievances and demands for democracy in the semiautonomous Chinese…

Monday, 02 September 2019 04:58

Avoid Lagos-Ibadan expressway if in haste - TRACE

Motorists who are in a hurry to get to their destination on time have been asked to steer clear of Berger to Ogun River section of Lagos-Ibadan expressway due to rehabilitation works that might slow down traffic along the routes. According to a traffic advisory signed yesterday by spokesman of the Ogun State Traffic Compliance and Enforcement Corps (TRACE), Mr Babatunde Akinbiyi, motorists in a hurry can make use of alternative routes like the Iyana Ipaja/Ota/Ifo/Abeokuta/Sagamu-Benin Ore expressway; Victoria Island/ Lekki/ Epe/ Ijebu-Ode-Benin/Ore expressway or the Ikorodu/ Itoikin/ Ijebu-Ode-Benin/Ore expressway. According to the traffic advisory released yesterday, “in view of…

Sunday, 01 September 2019 04:59

Visa fees high for Americans despite FG’s reduction – Punch investigation

Americans seeking visa to visit Nigeria will continue to pay high visa fees despite the reduction announced by Nigeria’s Ministry of Interior Affairs on Wednesday. According to investigations, while Nigerians currently pay at least $160 for US visas, Americans are charged a minimum of $180 and an extra $100 for visa processing by visa service facilitation firms, amounting to $280 per applicant. Findings showed that two Nigerian firms, Online Integrated Services and Thebez Global Resources, had been generating windfall earning of at least $100 per visa application. An agent of TGR in New York informed our correspondent on Friday that…

Sunday, 01 September 2019 04:58

US says it plans to create fake social media accounts to monitor immigrants

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) officers can now use fake social media accounts to monitor immigrants seeking visas, green cards and citizenship. The new plan is a policy change from July that reverses a Homeland Security Department ban that cited privacy issues. A statement from USCIS said the agency will use the fake accounts only “to access social media content that is publicly available to all users of the social media platform,” adding its personnel will respect users' privacy settings and won’t "friend" or "follow" users. USCIS said it doesn’t proactively monitor social media accounts. “We use social media…

Sunday, 01 September 2019 04:57

FG says still negotiating for Leah Sharibu’s release

Presidency has dismissed speculation that Leah Sharibu, the Dapchi schoolgirl still held by Boko Haram, is dead. It said Miss Sharibu was alive, while the Federal Government continue to negotiate her release from the terrorist group. Senior Special Assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari on Media and Publicity, Mr Garba Shehu, said this in a statement he issued on Saturday in Abuja. Shehu assured Nigerians that the government would not give up on Sharibu, a Christian, denied freedom by the terrorist group because of her faith. He stated, ‘‘Instead of giving up, the government is carrying forward processes that should hopefully…

Sunday, 01 September 2019 04:56

Russians demand free elections in Moscow, defying protest ban

A few thousand Russians took to the streets of central Moscow on Saturday to demand free elections to the capital’s city legislature on Sept. 8, defying a ban which has been enforced with violent detentions during previous protests. Participants stretch out a banner in support of Article 31 of the Russian constitution, which guarantees the right of assembly, during a rally to demand authorities allow opposition candidates to run in the upcoming local election and release protesters, who were detained during recent demonstrations, near the monument to Russian poet Alexander Pushkin in Moscow, Russia August 31, 2019. Weeks of demonstrations…

Saturday, 31 August 2019 06:02

2019 presidential election results transmitted electronically but ... - INEC

Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) yesterday said it electronically transmitted results of this year’s presidential election, but that it was a pilot scheme not yet backed by law. INEC’s National Commissioner in charge of Kogi, Kwara and Nasarawa states, Mr Mohammed Haruna, who represented chairman of INEC, Mr Mahmood Yakubu, disclosed this yesterday in Abuja at the public presentation of the YIAGA Africa Watching The Vote (WTV) General Elections Observation Report of 2019 elections. Haruna said: “The key word is pilot. We were piloting and you have to take that into consideration. In fact, it is not a done deal.…

Saturday, 31 August 2019 06:01

Officers issuing passports are corrupt, Immigration boss tells Minister

Minister of Interior Mr Rauf Aregbesola has directed officials of Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS ) to exploit every capacity within the service to ensure issuance of international passports to genuine and qualified applicants within 48 hours. The Minister said with deployment of state-of-the-art technology, the 48 hours timeline for acquiring an international passport was achievable if officials of NIS eliminate human contacts and deal with racketeering, which has built an “unusual economy“, around the passport issuance process. He said the directive has become imperative because of the pains and agonising experience many Nigerians are subjected to in their bid to…

Saturday, 31 August 2019 06:00

U.S visa reciprocity fees against Nigerian applicants remain effective - US Embassy

U.S Embassy in Nigeria has said that the reciprocity fees on approved visas remain effective until it receives official diplomatic communications from the Nigerian government on a new fee schedule for Americans seeking U.S visas. The Embassy made this known in a statement through its Public Affairs Department on Friday in Abuja. It stated that “The U.S Embassy looks forward to receiving official diplomatic communication regarding a new fee schedule for Americans seeking Nigerian Visas. “Until such time, and confirmation of implementation, the reciprocity fee for approved visas to the United States will remain in place,” the Embassy stated. On…

Saturday, 31 August 2019 05:59

How I escaped attacks in Ekiti - Fayose

A former Ekiti State Governor, Mr Ayo Fayose, on Friday said he escaped attack by a whisker while leaving the House of Assembly in Ado Ekiti, the state capital. Fayose, who appeared at the Assembly on Friday on the invitation of the legislative body, said, “It was on our way from the Assembly that some people trailed us in a Pick-up van purposely to attack us. We managed to escape. In short, one of them nearly broke my head.” The former governor, who said he came to honour the Assembly’s invitation because “a clear conscience fears no accusation”, said, “When…

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Saturday, 31 August 2019 05:57

Lagos task force intercepts 123 men traveling in 3 trailers

Lagos State Task Force on Environmental and other Offences intercepted 123 unidentified men packed in a suspicious manner inside three heavy-duty trailers using a large number of motorcycles numbering 48 as cover. The men who were hiding inside the truck concealed themselves in such a way that attracted the suspicion of the task force who began to question their mission in the city. The men were intercepted inward Ojodu-Berger axis just at the edge of Ogun-Lagos state border as they made their way into Lagos State. It was not clear whether the men arrested were Nigerians or foreign nationals. But…

Saturday, 31 August 2019 05:56

Twitter CEO Dorsey’s account sent racist tweets after hack

Hackers briefly gained control of Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey’s account Friday, sending racist and vulgar tweets to his 4.2 million followers. Some of the tweets were up for about 30 minutes before Twitter took them down. The tweets included messages such as “Hitler is innocent” and, using a vulgarity, asked “bald skeleton head tramp,” apparently referring to Dorsey, to unsuspend certain accounts. Twitter says it’s investigating. The San Francisco-based company suspended accounts that the hacker or hackers retweeted while they had control of Dorsey’s account. It also suspended the account that appeared to be responsible for the hack. Based on…

Saturday, 31 August 2019 05:55

Ogun court declares Onipokia Obaship seat vacant

An Ogun State High Court sitting in Ipokia Judicial Division says there was no formal appointment of a recognised Chief for the stool of Onipokia of Ipokia made by Ipokia Kingmakers and communicated to the appropriate Authorities. Mr Gboyega Ogunfowora stated this while dismissing a preliminary objection by Kingmakers of Ipokia Traditional Council of Chiefs, in a trial on the chieftaincy tussle to elect a new Onipokia of Ipokia, in Ogun West area of the State. The Judge, while striking out the objection challenging jurisdiction of the court to adjudicate on the matter, described it as frivolous and unmeritorious. Claimants…

Friday, 30 August 2019 05:55

Nigerians abroad involved in crime not representing our values – Buhari

President Muhammadu Buhari has said Nigerians abroad indulging in criminal activities are a minority and do not represent the values of majority of the people of the country. President’s spokesman, Mr. Femi Adesina, in a statement in Abuja, said Buhari stated this when he met with leaders of Nigerian community living in Japan on the sidelines of the Seventh Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD7) in Yokohama, yesterday. “Let me also say that there are few Nigerians in the Diaspora that are giving us a bad name by engaging in criminal activities. “These Nigerians are a minority, they do…

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