Foreign

International Court of Justice orders Russia to `immediately suspend’ attacking Ukraine

Published

1 an ago

mars 17, 2022

Naija Diaspora

International Court of Justice orders Russia to `immediately suspend’ attacking Ukraine

Although the ICJ’s verdicts are binding, there are doubts whether President Vladimir Putin will abide by the ruling.

Russia must immediately suspend its invasion of Ukraine, the International Court of Justice ruled on Wednesday in The Hague.

By a vote of 13 to two, with Vice-President Kirill Gevorgian of Russia and Judge Xue Hanqin of China dissenting, the ICJ ruled that Russia “shall immediately suspend the military operations that it commenced on February 24.”

The court’s ruling – the first such verdict handed down by the World Court since the Russian invasion began – is in response to a suit filed by Ukraine on February 27, accusing Russia of manipulating the concept of genocide to justify its military invasion.

Although the ICJ’s verdicts are binding, there are doubts whether President Vladimir Putin will abide by the ruling. The court has no direct means of enforcing its rulings.

In a tweet shortly after the ruling, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said the majority decision “fully reinforces my repeated appeals for peace.

The court began by recalling that on February 26 Ukraine filed an application against Russia concerning “a dispute” on the interpretation, application and fulfillment of the Genocide Convention.

Ukraine contended that having falsely claimed acts of genocide against the people of the Luhansk and Donetsk oblasts, Russia declared and implemented a “special military operation” to prevent and punish the purported acts.

The ICJ asked Russia to immediately suspend its attacks and cease all military operations as they were based on Moscow’s stated purpose of preventing or punishing Ukraine for committing genocide.

The court also noted that Russia had decided not to participate in oral proceedings and later, presented a document setting out its position that in this case, the court lacked jurisdiction and requested it to “refrain from indicating provisional measures and to remove the case from its list.”

In delivering the ruling, the president of the court, Joan Donoghue of the U.S., outlined that the necessary conditions were met to give the ICJ the authority to indicate provisional measures.

The president said the conditions were met to give ICJ provisional measure, namely that the rights asserted by Ukraine are plausible and the condition of urgency was met in that acts causing irreparable prejudice can “occur at any moment.”

Ms Donoghue explained, “Indeed, any military operation, one on the scale carried out by the Russian Federation on the territory of Ukraine, inevitably causes loss of life, mental and bodily harm and damage to property and to the environment.’’

On behalf of the World Court, she added, “The civilian population affected by the present conflict is extremely vulnerable,” adding that Russia’s aggression has resulted in “numerous civilian deaths and injuries…significant material damage, including the destruction of buildings and infrastructure. Attacks are ongoing and are creating increasingly difficult living conditions for the civilian population. Many persons have no access to the most basic foodstuffs, potable water, electricity, essential medicines or heating.”

The judges were unanimous in their order that both parties refrain from any action that might “aggravate or extend the dispute…or make it more difficult to resolve.”

Events

Ethiopian Embassy reportedly bans visa on arrival for Nigerians

Published

8 mois ago

octobre 5, 2022

Naija Diaspora

The Ethiopian embassy has reportedly suspended visas on arrival for Nigerians with immediate effect.

Ethiopian Airlines, in a memo sent to travel partners on Tuesday, October 4, said passengers are to obtain their Visa at the Ethiopian embassy in Abuja before embarking on any trip to the country, DailyTrust reports.

According to the report, the airlines said, “Please be informed that effective immediate No More Visa on Arrival for Nigerian citizens.

Passengers are to obtain their visa at the Ethiopian Embassy in Abuja before traveling.

Please note that: Passengers transiting overnight in Addis Ababa are not affected by the ban. E.g. passengers having layover in Addis to travel the next morning to Zanzibar, Seycheles, Lusaka, Lilongwe, Harare, Cape Town, etc are not affected by the ban and do not need transit visa for their trips.”

Foreign

China Detects First Human Case Of H3N8 Bird Flu

Published

1 an ago

avril 27, 2022

Naija Diaspora

April 27, (THEWILL) – China has confirmed the first known human case of the H3N8 strain of avian flu, but health authorities say there is a low risk of widespread transmission among people.

H3N8 is known to have been circulating since 2002, after first emerging in North American waterfowl. It is known to infect horses, dogs, and seals, but has not previously been detected in humans.

April 27, (THEWILL) – China’s National Health Commission, said a four-year-old boy, living in central Henan province, tested positive for the strain after being hospitalised earlier this month with a fever and other symptoms.

The boy’s family raised chickens at home and lived in an area populated by wild ducks, the NHC said in a statement.

The boy was infected directly by birds and the strain was not found to have “the ability to effectively infect humans”, the commission said.

It added that tests of the boy’s close human contacts found “no abnormalities.”

The NHC said the boy’s case was a “one-off cross-species transmission, and the risk of large-scale transmission is low.”

It warned the public to nevertheless stay away from dead or sick birds and seek immediate treatment for fever or respiratory symptoms.

Avian influenza occurs mainly in wild birds and poultry. Cases of transmission between humans are extremely rare.

The H5N1 and H7N9 strains of bird flu, detected in 1997 and 2013, respectively, have been responsible for most cases of human illness from avian influenza, according to the US Centers for Disease Control.

Human infections of zoonotic, or animal-borne, influenzas are “primarily acquired through direct contact with infected animals or contaminated environments, but do not result in efficient transmission of these viruses between people”, according to the World Health Organisation.

In 2012, H3N8 was blamed for the deaths of more than 160 seals off the northeastern coast of the United States after it caused deadly pneumonia in the animals.

Foreign

$148,000 fraud: Nigeria extradites suspected Yahoo Boy to U.S.

Published

1 an ago

avril 27, 2022

Naija Diaspora

The Federal Government has extradited a wire fraud (locally known as Yahoo Yahoo) suspect, Adedunmola Gbadegesin to the United States where he is wanted in a case of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering.

Gbadegesin, who was arrested in Nigeria on September 2, 2021, is alleged to have defrauded an American lady living in Kentucky, of over $148,000

The US intends to prosecute Gbadegesin for offences allegedly contravening Title 18, US Code, Section 1349 and 1956 (h).

If convicted abroad, Gbadegesin could face a maximum jail term of 20 years.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) disclosed this in a statement by its spokesman Wilson Uwujaren.

Uwujaren said Gbadegesin’s extradition was coordinated by the EFCC, following a request from the office of the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF).

This in turn followed a February 11, 2022 Order by Justice Daniel Osiagor of the Federal High Court, Lagos, in Suit No. FHC/L/CS/765/21.

The suit granted a request to extradite the suspect to the United States to answer to criminal charges bordering on romance scam, wire fraud and money laundering.

Upon arriving in the United States, the suspect is billed to appear before a United States District Court for the District of New Mexico, where two counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering have been filed against him.