Publisher, journalist and former presidential candidate Dele Momodu has re-entered politics and joined Nigeria’s main opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Momodu announced his move to the PDP in a statement, explaining that his decision was based on the need to contribute meaningfully to the development of the country.

“I have consulted widely. And it is clear to me that given the dangerous and disastrous drift that our nation has experienced in the past six years, the only party from which amends can be made to rectify our situation is the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP),” he said in the statement released on Friday morning.

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“This accords with my vehement opposition to the policies and practices of the All Progressive Congress (APC) and its leadership, which has denuded our country of everything we hold dear – national unity, cohesion, security, economic prosperity, educational advancement, social infrastructure, and above all, our cherished moral values.

“For these reasons, I am happy to declare that I am now a full-fledged participating member of the great and patriotic Peoples Democratic Party.”

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He accused the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) of failing in delivering democratic dividends to Nigerians,  maintaining that the PDP has landmark achievements to show for their 16-year rule.

“It is deeply saddening and regrettable that some of the biggest and landmark achievements recorded under the PDP administration have been diluted, wasted, or diminished by the present APC government,” he added.

He thanked the party for accepting him into its fold and hailed PDP members for being steadfast and resolute despite the hurdles stacked against them.

“I wish to thank the leadership of my party, PDP, for fully accepting me with love and enthusiasm,”  the journalist said.

“I intend to serve Nigeria from within the PDP with all humility, purpose, vigour, and sincerity in whatever role the party and God deem fit for me.”

Dele Momodu Re-Enters Politics, Joins PDP

President Joe Biden will address Americans Thursday just ahead of his departure to Europe, the White House said, amid reports he will announce progress in the search for a deal in Congress on his social spending plans.

Biden was due to make remarks from the White House at 11:30 am (1530 GMT), right before he leaves to board Air Force One for Rome.

Biden had been hoping to get Democrats to end weeks of intense wrangling and conclude a deal on major social spending legislation before he left. According to The Washington Post, Biden may instead announce a revised package that he expects his party will finally support.

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At stake is something just short of $2 trillion in spending on education, childcare and other social services, twinned with a separate package worth $1.2 trillion to fix the country’s infrastructure.

Biden is headed to Rome for meetings with Pope Francis and the G20 group, before continuing to Scotland for the United Nations climate summit.

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President of the United states of America

Biden To Address Americans Ahead Of Europe Trip

Russia reported record numbers of daily coronavirus cases and deaths on Thursday as Moscow shut down non-essential services for 11 days to combat the surge in infections.

The country hardest hit in Europe by the pandemic, Russia has struggled with low vaccination rates despite developing several of its own jabs.

Recent weeks have seen daily numbers of cases and deaths hit the highest of the pandemic, with the official government tally on Thursday reporting new records of 40,096 infections and 1,159 fatalities.

Authorities have shied away from the kind of severe lockdowns imposed in many countries, but have shut down all non-essential services in Moscow from Thursday until November 7.

Retail outlets, restaurants, and sporting and entertainment venues are all closed, along with schools and kindergartens. Only shops selling food, medicine and other essentials are allowed to remain open.

President Vladimir Putin’s government has been pinning its hopes on homegrown vaccines like the Sputnik V jab, but Russians have proven stubbornly resistant to being inoculated.

As of Thursday, only 32 percent of Russia’s population had been fully vaccinated, according to the Gogov website, which tallies Covid-19 data from the regions.

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Putin last week ordered a nationwide paid holiday between October 30 and November 7 in a bid to reverse rising infections, and Moscow authorities followed suit by ordering the shutdown of non-essential services in the capital from Thursday.

Roads in Moscow on Thursday morning were slightly less congested than usual, but the city’s sprawling Metro network was as busy as ever, with many passengers not wearing masks.

Authorities have not required Russians to stay at home during the non-working period and many were planning to use the days to travel across the country and abroad.

The mayor of the Black Sea resort city of Sochi has warned of a huge influx of tourists, and demand in Russia for flights bound for Turkey and Egypt has soared.

Russia has recorded nearly 8.4 million cases and more than 235,000 deaths, though independent experts say authorities have downplayed the severity of the pandemic.

Figures published by statistics agency Rosstat in October paint a darker picture, suggesting that more than 400,000 people have died in the country from the coronavirus.

After a severe months-long lockdown early in the pandemic, Russian authorities have been hesitant to impose further restrictions that would hurt the economy, instead pleading with Russians to get vaccinated.

Moscow shuts down as COVID-19 cases increases 

Moscow Shuts Down As Russia’s COVID Case Increases

Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike has challenged the Federal Government on the legality of Executive Order 10.

The governor said the action of the Federal Government to recommend uniform terms and conditions for the administration of the judicial arm of government in a Federal System of Government prejudices the powers of the federating states to manage its affairs.

Wike said this on Monday at a dinner organized in Government House for members of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) who are holding their 61st Annual General Conference in Port Harcourt.

“I will not sign any law that dictates… I was not appointed, I was elected by the people of the state, and by law, I am the only one that can present the budget to legislators.

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“Nobody can force me on how my state would operate,” he said.

He argued that the constitution of the country guarantees the legal and financial independence of the judiciary, which his administration is religiously implementing.

He said the funds he releases for the concurrent expenditure of the judiciary in Rivers State and his intervention in capital projects are far beyond the allocation which is recommended in the Federal Government’s Executive Order 10 which was signed by President Muhammadu Buhari in May 2020 to grant financial autonomy to the judiciary across the 36 states of the federation.

Governor Wike also warned against the deduction of Rivers State funds from source, for the judiciary, as recommended in Executive Order 10, stating that he will not sign the recommendations despite the pressure from the Chief Judge of Rivers State, Justice Simeon Amadi.

Wike Challenges FG On Legality Of Executive Order 10

On Wednesday, China insisted that Taiwan had no right to join the United Nations, after the United States ratcheted up tensions with a call for the democratic island to have greater involvement in the world body.

In a statement marking 50 years since the UN General Assembly voted to seat Beijing and boot out Taipei, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Tuesday he regretted that Taiwan had been increasingly excluded on the world stage.

“As the international community faces an unprecedented number of complex and global issues, it is critical for all stakeholders to help address these problems. This includes the 24 million people who live in Taiwan,” Blinken said.

“Taiwan’s meaningful participation in the UN system is not a political issue, but a pragmatic one,” he said.

“That is why we encourage all UN member states to join us in supporting Taiwan’s robust, meaningful participation throughout the UN system and in the international community.”

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China considers Taiwan — where nationalist forces fled in 1949 after losing a civil war to the communists — to be a province awaiting reunification, by force if necessary.

It responded to Blinken’s statement with strident, albeit familiar, statements emphasising its position that Taiwan’s government had no place on the global diplomatic stage.

“Taiwan has no right to join the United Nations,” Ma Xiaoguang, spokesman for the Taiwan Affairs Office in Beijing, told reporters.

“The United Nations is an international governmental organisation composed of sovereign states… Taiwan is a part of China.”

The United States has long called for Taiwan’s inclusion in UN activities.

But the latest statement adds to an escalation of diplomatic rhetoric and military posturing over Taiwan.

China is regularly setting records for its number of warplane flights near the island.

US President Joe Biden last week told a televised forum that the United States was ready to defend Taiwan from any Chinese invasion.

Those comments were quickly walked back by the White House amid warnings from China, continuing a strategy of ambiguity on whether it would intervene militarily if China attacked.

The United States switched recognition in 1979 to Beijing.

But Congress at the same time approved the Taiwan Relations Act that obligated the supply of weapons to the island for its self-defence.

Blinken on Tuesday reiterated that the United States still recognized only Beijing.

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But he emphasised the democratic credentials of the island of 23 million people.

“Taiwan has become a democratic success story,” Blinken said. “We are among the many UN member states who view Taiwan as a valued partner and trusted friend.”

Blinken pointed to Taiwan’s exclusion from meetings associated with the International Civil Aviation Organization and the World Health Organization.

He noted that Taiwan was hailed for its “world-class” response to Covid-19 — which largely spared the island after early intervention — and that tens of millions of passengers go through Taiwanese airports each year.

Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen welcomed Blinken’s remarks.

“Grateful for #US support for expanding #Taiwan’s international participation,” she said on Twitter.

“We stand ready to work with all like-minded partners to contribute our expertise in international organizations, mechanisms & events.”

Taiwan Has No Right To Join United Nations – China

A mob killed three suspected bandit informants at Zangon Aya community in Igabi Local Government Area of Kaduna State.

The victims are one Abdullahi Mohammed Gobirawa, his wife Binta Abdullahi and his son Hassan Abdullahi.

The State Commissioner for Internal Security and Home Affairs, Samuel Aruwan, said the incident happened on Monday afternoon when the angry mob stormed the home of the deceased identified to be informants to bandits who are responsible for the recent kidnappings in the area.

After killing the three family members, the mob also looted their property before setting their house ablaze.

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Receiving the reports, Governor Nasir El-Rufai expressed sadness at the violent actions of the citizens, and strongly condemned the extra-judicial killings.

He stressed that lawful means alone should be adopted in confronting suspicions of criminality, as the destructive practice of self-help would only result in greater harm.

The Governor, therefore, directed security agencies to conduct thorough investigations into the incident and urged citizens to maintain order.

He also cautioned against stereotyping of any sort and appealed for consistent recourse to the constituted agencies.

“To me, Kei is irreplaceable. Our marriage is a necessary step for us to be able to protect our hearts,” she told reporters after the marriage was registered.

“I have been scared, feeling sadness and pain whenever one-sided rumors turn into groundless stories,” she added as the newlyweds read out rehearsed statements in a soberly decorated hotel function room.

Since announcing their engagement in 2017, the couple has faced tabloid scandals and vicious online sniping over allegations that Komuro’s family had run into financial difficulties.

After much delay, they finally tied the knot with no wedding ceremony, reception banquet or any of the usual rites — opting to do so privately, away from a public that has not always been kind.

Mob Kill Three Suspected Bandit Informants In Kaduna

Women activists in Kabul have taken to the streets with placards that read “why is the world watching us die in silence?” on Tuesday, in protest over the international community’s inaction on the crisis in Afghanistan.

Around a dozen women risked the wrath of the Taliban, who have banned demonstrations and shut them down using violence since taking power in August, holding banners affirming their “right to education” and “right to work”, before the Islamists stopped the press from approaching the march.

“We are asking the UN secretary-general to support our rights, to education, to work. We are deprived of everything today,” Wahida Amiri, one of the organizers for the Spontaneous Movement of Women Activists in Afghanistan, told AFP.

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Their demonstration, addressing the “political, social and economic situation” in Afghanistan was initially planned to take place near the UN mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA).

But it was moved at the last minute to the entrance of the former “Green Zone”, where the buildings of several Western embassies are located, although most of their missions left the country as the Taliban took control.

Taliban gunmen at the entrance to the ultra-secure area initially asked the demonstrators and the press to move away.

An AFP reporter then saw a reinforcement of a dozen Taliban guards — most of them armed — push back journalists and confiscate the mobile phone of one local reporter who was filming the protest.

“We have nothing against the Taliban, we just want to demonstrate peacefully,” Amiri said.

Symbolic demonstrations by women have become a regular occurrence in Kabul in recent weeks as the Taliban have still not allowed them to return to work or permitted most girls to go to school.

Last Thursday about 20 women were allowed to march for more than 90 minutes, but several foreign and local journalists covering the rally were beaten by Taliban fighters.

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Protest In Afghanistan Over World’s ‘Silence’ On Crisis

The EU’s medicines watchdog said Monday it had started a review of an oral Covid medication from the US pharmaceutical firm Merck, raising hopes for an easy-to-administer treatment to reduce serious or deadly cases.

The move, which could eventually lead to authorization on the European market, comes two weeks after Merck applied for emergency use in the US of the anti-coronavirus drug.

“EMA’s human medicines committee (CHMP) has started a rolling review of the oral antiviral medicine molnupiravir… developed by Merck Sharp & Dohme in collaboration with Ridgeback Biotherapeutics for the treatment of Covid-19 in adults,” the European Medicines Agency said in a statement.

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Preliminary results “suggest that the medicine may reduce the ability of SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes Covid‑19) to multiply in the body, thereby preventing hospitalization or death in patients with Covid‑19,” the EMA said.

Antivirals like molnupiravir work by decreasing the ability of a virus to replicate, thereby slowing down the disease. It is taken orally.

Given to patients within days of a positive test, the treatment halves the risk of hospitalization and death, according to a clinical trial conducted by Merck, also called MSD outside the United States.

If approved, molnupiravir would represent a major breakthrough in reducing severe forms of the disease, which Merck’s FDA application said reduced hospitalizations by 50 per cent.

The EMA will now assess whether molnupiravir complied with European standards of efficacy, safety, and quality.

It can take several months between the start of a rolling review by the EMA and any eventual green light.

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EU Drug Agency Starts Review Of Merck Oral COVID-19 Drug

American rapper Snoop Dogg has lost his mum, Beverly Broadus.

The legendary rapper took to his Instagram handle on Sunday to announce the development.

He posted a black and white photo of himself on the social media platform with a caption that reads, “Walk by faith, not by sight. Smile Snoopy that’s what U would say when it was time to take a picture TWMA.”

He later shared two separate photos of his mom, thanking her for having him, and expressing gratitude to God for giving him “an angel for a mother.”

While Snoop did not reveal the cause of his mom’s death or the nature of her recent health problems, the artist did reveal in May that his mother had been hospitalized.

In June, he shared a photo of himself and his family visiting her in hospital.

Musician, Snoop Dogg Loses Mum Beverly Broadus

Men suspected to be members of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and Eastern Security Network (ESN) on Thursday bombed a police station in Isiala Mbano Local Government Area of Imo State.

The bandits, who stormed the police station around 6.44 pm in a convoy of five vehicles and three motorcycles, reportedly threw petrol bombs on the roof of the police station, shooting sporadically.

However, the police operatives attached to the station engaged the hoodlums in a gun duel.

One police officer was said to have been badly injured while properties were damaged.

According to a statement on Friday by the Imo police spokesman, CSP Michael Abattam: “The armed bandits, suspected to be members of the IPOB/ESN terror group came to Isiala Mbano Police Station in about five vehicles and three motorcycles threw petrol bombs on the roof of the already damaged building in the Endsars imbroglio and started shooting indiscriminately."

“The police operatives attached to the station returned fire, engaging them in a gun duel. They were able to repel the bandits and in the process they zoomed off in their vehicles and motorcycles.”

He said due to alertness of the police operatives, “no arm was lost. The fire was extinguished not after causing some damages on the building.

“One of the police operatives who sustained gun shot injury was rushed to a nearby hospital for treatment.”

Abattam disclosed that the Command’s tactical teams have been dispatched to the area in pursuit of the bandits and to beef up security in the area.

Breaking News: Gunmen bomb police station in Imo

Israel’s Prime Minister Naftali Bennett visited Russian President Vladimir Putin for the first on Friday for talks expected to focus on Iran.

Naftali took office in June, following Benjamin Netanyahu who was in power for 12 years and had close ties with Putin.

Russian state television aired footage of the pair meeting ahead of the talks in the Black Sea resort city of Sochi.

Putin said the two countries have “unique” ties and hoped for “continuity” of the “trusting relationship” he developed with Israel’s previous government.

Bennett told Putin that Israel views him as “a true friend of the Jewish people” and praised the Soviet war effort in fighting Nazi Germany.

He said the pair will discuss the “situation in Syria and our efforts to prevent a breakthrough in Iran’s military nuclear program”.

As he left for Sochi, Bennett said Israel’s relations with Moscow are an “important element” of the country’s foreign policy.

This was in part due, he said, “to the million Russian speakers in Israel, who constitute a bridge between the two countries”.

The visit may be one of Putin’s last face-to-face meetings with a foreign leader before Russia’s new Covid restrictions come into force next week.

The Kremlin has said the 69-year-old will scrap in-person meetings during a nationwide week-long holiday starting October 30 designed to curb record virus deaths.

Last week, Bennett’s office said the pair will discuss Iran’s nuclear programme.

Moscow is one of the signatories to a 2015 deal that saw sanctions relief for Iran in exchange for limits to its nuclear capability.

Former US President Donald Trump withdrew from the deal in 2018 and reimposed harsh sanctions, leading Tehran to gradually roll back its commitments under the agreement.

Bennett told the United Nations General Assembly last month that Israel “will not allow Iran to acquire a nuclear weapon.”

Putin had congratulated Bennett after he was sworn in and said that Russian-Israeli cooperation would help strengthen “peace, security and stability in the Middle East.”

Israeli PM Naftali Bennette Holds First Talks With Putin

A booster shot of the anti-COVID-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer/BioNTech is 95.6 per cent effective against symptomatic infection, according to trial data published by the makers on Thursday.

The clinical phase three trial with “10,000 participants 16 years of age and older” showed “a relative vaccine efficacy of 95.6 per cent against disease during a period when Delta was the prevalent strain”, the companies said in a statement.

The study presented the “first results” of a booster trial, with a third shot of the vaccine demonstrating a “favourable safety profile”.

“These results provide further evidence of the benefits of boosters as we aim to keep people well-protected against this disease,” said Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla.

The preliminary results would be shared with regulatory agencies “as soon as possible”, the companies said in the statement.

Several countries have already approved COVID-19 booster shots to increase immunity in people who have already been vaccinated, but whose protection may have dipped after several months, per some studies.

In the United States, the federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved a third dose in September for everyone aged 65 and up, as well as people at high risk of developing severe COVID.

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) approved a booster for over-18s at the beginning of October, allowing national regulators to decide which groups should be eligible first.

In Israel, authorities have gone further, approving booster shots for everyone aged 12 and over.

Pfizer Says COVID-19 Booster Shot 95.6% Effective

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