Month: June 2017

Nigeria, biggest recipient of payment from Shell in 2016

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Global oil giant, Royal Dutch Shell Plc, said on Tuesday that it paid $3.638bn to the Nigerian government last year for its activities in the country. Nigeria’s revenue from the oil major was the highest out of the 31 countries to which Shell made payments last year. Shell, in its ‘Report on Payments to Governments for the Year 2016’ released on Monday, said it paid $2.172bn to the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation as production entitlement. The oil major said $1.18bn was paid to the Federal Inland Revenue Service as taxes,…

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Democrats in Congress to sue Trump over foreign business dealings

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WASHINGTON — Nearly 200 Democratic members of Congress are expected to file a federal lawsuit on Wednesday accusing President Trump of violating the Constitution by profiting from business dealings with foreign governments. The plaintiffs — believed to be the most members of Congress to ever sue a sitting president — contend that Mr. Trump has ignored a constitutional clause that prohibits federal officials from accepting gifts, or emoluments, from foreign powers without congressional approval. It is the third such lawsuit against Mr. Trump on the issue since he became president,…

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People trapped in London towering inferno

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More than 200 firefighters are tackling a massive blaze at a 27-floor block of flats in London, with reports of people trapped in their homes. Forty engines were called to the 27-storey Grenfell Tower at just after 1.15am on Wednesday, on the Lancaster West Estate, north Kensington. Police say a “number of people are being treated for a range of injuries”, including smoke inhalation, as pictures from the scene showed flames shooting metres into the sky and engulfing most of the block. Actor and writer Tim Downie, who lives around…

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Verizon completes $4.48 billion purchase of Yahoo, ending an era

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SAN FRANCISCO — Goodbye, Yahoo. Hello, Oath. Verizon Communications, the wireless powerhouse that was a cluster of local phone companies when two Stanford University graduate students began compiling the Yahoo web directory in 1994, completed its purchase on Tuesday of Yahoo’s internet business for $4.48 billion. Yahoo, which once had a market value of $125 billion, will be combined with AOL, another faded web pioneer it bought in 2015, into a new division of Verizon called Oath. Oath, headed by AOL’s chief executive, Tim Armstrong, will have about 1.3 billion…

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$1.2bn polio eradication fund for Nigeria excites UNICEF

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The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the World Health Organisation (WHO) have commended the 1.2 billion dollars funding initiative to eradicate polio disease in Nigeria, Afghanistan and Pakistan. UNICEF Executive Director, Anthony Lake, and WHO Director-General, Margaret Chan, gave the commendations as global health leaders reaffirmed their commitment to fund the eradication of polio in the countries. The major pledges included 75 million dollars from Canada, 61.4 million dollars from the European Commission, 55 million dollars from Japan, and 30 million dollars from Sheikh Mohamed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of…

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Nigeria floats $300m Diaspora bond

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The federal government has rolled out the first ever Diaspora bond of $300 million to raise funds from Nigerians in the Diaspora to finance capital projects. Mrs. Abike Dabiri-Erewa, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Foreign Affairs and Diaspora, advised Nigerians to take advantage and invest in the bond. A statement by her Media Assistant, Mr Abdurrahman Balogun, noted that the Debt Management Office (DMO) announced the commencement of a global offering of Nigeria’s first Diaspora Bond. She said the DMO also filed a registration statement for the…

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How Mourinho helped Real Madrid win Champions League titles – Sergio Ramos

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Real Madrid captain, Sergio Ramos, has agreed with Jose Mourinho’s recent comments, that he helped turn the La Liga side into Champions League contenders. The Manchester United manager made his comments to Portuguese newspaper Expresso, where he added he is “terrible at picking teams” “I’m really bad at picking teams. Inter Milan were in big trouble. Real Madrid were in big trouble. Manchester United in big trouble. “What does big trouble mean? It means that they are teams that want to win but are thousands of miles away from winning.…

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Melaye’s recall and the banging drums Of war in Kogi

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Since the eruption of political fracas between Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Bello and the Senator for Kogi West senatorial district, Dino Melaye, a lot of ugly events have been unfolding. SOLOMON AYADO takes a look at issues surrounding the frosty relationship betwen the duo and the move to recall the vocal senator. Although the much anticipated 2019 general elections are still ahead, the political gimmicks, the clever maneuverings and above all, the treachery that ha’s already Playing out in Kogi state  is more obvious than can best be imagined. No…

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Trump travel ban dealt another blow, faces high court next

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SEATTLE — Another U.S. appeals court stomped on President Donald Trump’s revised travel ban Monday, saying the administration violated federal immigration law and failed to provide a valid reason for keeping people from six mostly Muslim nations from coming to the country. The decision by a unanimous three-judge panel of the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals helps keep the travel ban blocked and deals Trump a second big legal defeat on the policy in less than three weeks. The administration said it would seek further review at…

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Russia gets cyber-weapon to destroy electricity system

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With the assistance of allied hackers, Russia has developed a cyberweapon capable of destroying electricity grid, U.S. researchers report that such could be used to upset the American electric system. The reports say that the devise was used to disrupt energy system in Ukraine December in 2015. According to the Washington Post, the cyberweapon has the potential to be the most disruptive yet against electric systems that Americans depend on for daily life. The malware, which researchers have dubbed CrashOverride, is known to have disrupted only one energy system —…

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