Foreign

SEVEN killed in Kabul drone strike, says UNICEF

Published

2 ans ago

août 30, 2021

Naija Diaspora

At least seven children were killed in a Kabul drone strike, the UNICEF representative in Afghanistan told reporters. The Pentagon had said the strike eliminated an “imminent threat” by ISIS-K terrorists to the ongoing airlift.

“We have confirmation from open sources that seven children were killed” in the incident, Herve De Lys, UNICEF’s envoy to Afghanistan, told reporters on Monday. “We don’t know who is behind the strike,” he added.

The apparent ignorance from De Lys was puzzling, since the same open sources that reported the deaths clearly attributed the strike to the US – the New York Times, for example.

The US military also said it had carried out the drone strike, saying it was done in self-defense against an “imminent” threat by Islamic State Khorasan (ISIS-K). The group claimed responsibility for last week’s bombing at the gate of Kabul’s Hamid Karzai International Airport (HKIA), which claimed the lives of 14 US military members and around 170 Afghans.

“We are not in a position to dispute it right now,” Pentagon spokesman John Kirby told reporters on Monday, when asked about reports of civilian casualties in the strike.

US Central Command spokesman Captain Bill Urban said on Sunday that CENTCOM was “aware” of reported civilian casualties and was still “assessing” the outcome of the strike, which he said targeted a car bomb belonging to ISIS-K. Survivors of the drone strike, however, said it killed multiple members of an Afghan family, all civilians.

“We know that there were substantial and powerful subsequent explosions resulting from the destruction of the vehicle, indicating a large amount of explosive material inside that may have caused additional casualties,” Urban said. “We would be deeply saddened by any potential loss of innocent life,” he added.

De Lys said UNICEF is continuing its mission in Afghanistan, even though many outside agencies have picked up and left following the Taliban takeover, as some 10 million children remain at risk and at least 200,000 have been displaced.

“It is clearly a child protection crisis in a country that is already one of the worst places on earth to be a child,” he told reporters.

Events

Ethiopian Embassy reportedly bans visa on arrival for Nigerians

Published

12 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.