Newscast - Africa

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo says more resources are required for higher institutions of learning to invest in research,
He says the country should focus on how to endow research because ultimately, research is what puts us on the world map of intellectual achievement and attainment.
He made the call for more resources to be devoted to research, adding that universities like UNILAG, ought to be at the frontline of scholarships and intellectual achievements.
The Vice President stated that the country needs to be able to put some resources behind research, especially scientific type research where benefits can be seen immediately.

President of the Senate, Dr Ahmad Lawan, says governors, who were uncomfortable with the choice of direct primaries as the mode of electing candidates by political parties, should have dialogued with the National Assembly and other stakeholders as against their combative approach, which failed to yield result.
Lawan says the matter was now out of the control of the legislature the moment it was transmitted to the president for assent.
The Senate President says the National Assembly had done its job by transmitting the recently passed electoral amendment bill 2021 to Buhari and that the expectation was for him to sign it into law.

The Chairman, Senate Committee on Army, Senator Ali Ndume, has reiterated calls for increased funding for the army.
Ndume says the increased funding was critical as the army was engaged in unconventional war across the country.
Ndume says because of the situation of the country the army is drafted into unconventional war everywhere in 32 states, there is the need to really properly fund them.
He added that there is a tremendous increase in their overhead personnel however the capital aspect of it is grossly inadequate.

The Chairman, Senate Committee on Army, Senator Ali Ndume, has reiterated calls for increased funding for the army.
Ndume says the increased funding was critical as the army was engaged in unconventional war across the country.
Ndume says because of the situation of the country the army is drafted into unconventional war everywhere in 32 states, there is the need to really properly fund them.
He added that there is a tremendous increase in their overhead personnel however the capital aspect of it is grossly inadequate.

President Muhammadu Buhari has approved February 2022 for the conduct of the national convention of the All Progressives Congress.
Chairman of the Progressives Governors’ Forum and Kebbi State Governor, Atiku Bagudu, told State House correspondents that the meeting was to brief the President on the decision of the Progressives Governors Forum when the members met on Sunday night.
Bagudu says the Governors resolved that the convention should hold in February 2022 and the same suggestion was proposed to the President for approval.
He, however, stated that that party’s leadership has yet to decide on a specific date to conduct its national convention.

The Independent National Electoral Commission and civil society organisations called on President Muhammadu Buhari to sign the Electoral Act Amendment Bill.
The Executive Director, Policy and Legal Advocacy Centre, Clement Nwankwo, asked Buhari to use the weekly Federal Executive Council meeting to sign the bill while the INEC National Commissioner, Festus Okoye said assent will help improve its preparations for future polls.
Nwankwo says it is expedient for the electoral act amendment bill to be signed for the overall benefit of Nigerians.

Health Minister Ong Ye Kung says returning to stricter COVID-19 curbs in Singapore will be a last resort as the city-state partially eased limits on social gatherings and dining out under its calibrated reopening approach.
Ong says the international travel and tourism hub would continue to open travel lanes with more countries for vaccinated visitors.
Ong says it was too difficult to put a timeframe on when Singapore would reach a new normal but he hoped the country’s high vaccination rates and the current roll-out of booster shots meant it would continue to ease restrictions.

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko says it was absolutely possible his forces helped people cross into the European Union, but denied inviting them to the country.
European governments have accused Belarus of artificially creating the crisis by bringing in people from abroad and taking them to the border with promises of an easy crossing into the bloc.
Polish border guards said there were attempted crossings from Belarus by two groups of migrants and refugees on what is the eastern border of the European Union and NATO.

Colonel Ahmad Hajian, the commander of the Naval Type 412 Zulfiqar in the southern Parsian county in the Hormozgan province says Commandos with the naval force of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps have seized a foreign tanker in the Persian Gulf for smuggling diesel.
He says through intelligence monitoring and in a coordinated operation, our navy succeeded in seizing a foreign ship with 11 crew members in our country’s waters.
Hajian promised to act decisively against any attempts to smuggle fuel through the sea in support of Iran’s economy.

Afghanistan’s Taliban authorities issued a new religious guideline that called on the country’s television channels to stop showing dramas and soap operas featuring women actors.
The Taliban also called on women television journalists to wear Islamic hijabs while presenting their reports.
The ministry asked the channels not to air films or programmes in which the Prophet Mohammed or other revered figures are shown.
It called for banning films or programmes that were against Islamic and Afghan values.