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Foreign

Russian gas shipments at peak as European cold prompts demand

Russian gas shipments at peak as European cold prompts demand

Gas
Moscow, April 4, 2022 (dpa/NAN) Gazprom, Russia’s majority state-owned multinational gas company, says
it planned to transmit nearly 108.3 million cubic metres of gas to Western Europe on Monday.

This apparently unfazed by the worsening conflict in Ukraine and a stand-off about Russian demands that payments start coming in roubles.

The Monday figure was nearly at the peak of contractual limits.

On Sunday, Gazprom transmitted 108.4 million cubic metres.

The high transmission rates were partly grounded in European demand after a cold snap prompted an unseasonably high level of home heating.

However, the continued transmissions raise more questions than answers.

After Russia’s Feb. 24, invasion of Ukraine, allegedly to prevent a genocide against ethnic Russians, Western Europe laid a wide range of sanctions on Russia.

Gas, however, was exempt from those sanctions.

In recent weeks, Russia has been hinting that it might turn off the taps.

On Friday, new rules went into effect saying that Western customers had to open accounts at Russian banks to make payments.

This is a step down from a previous threat that payments would have to come in roubles, a move many governments had baulked at. (dpa/NAN)  (www.nannews.ng)

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Edited by Cecilia Odey/Hadiza Mohammed-Aliyu

 

Foreign

Ukraine threatens retaliation after Bucha massacre

Ukraine threatens retaliation after Bucha massacre

Massacre

Berlin, April 4, 2022 (dpa/NAN) Ukrainian Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov has accused Russian troops of massacre of civilians in the town of Bucha, as 340 bodies have been recovered, according to Ukrainian media reports.

Reznikov, on Facebook, threatened retaliation.

“This evil simply cannot go unpunished,’’ he said on Monday.

“Our intelligence is consistently identifying all invaders and killers,’’ Reznikov wrote, adding that each of them will get what they deserve in their own time.

Images of residents’ bodies, which were discovered after Russian troops withdrew from the area near Kiev, have prompted international horror, with Ukraine blaming the massacre on Russian troops.

Moscow denies the charge.

“We categorically reject all accusations,’’ Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on Monday, according to the Interfax agency.

Reznikov compared the actions of the Russian army to those of the Nazi Schutzstaffel, a major paramilitary organisation under Adolf Hitler, during World War II.

Russia’s Investigative Committee said it was looking into what it calls the spread of “false reports’’ about the killings of civilians in Bucha.

Russia’s chief investigator, Alexander Bastrykin, instructed the agency to criminally assess the “provocation on the part of Ukraine,’’ the Investigative Committee said on Monday.

The investigation announced by Moscow is not about the incident itself, but about the spread of information about it.

Defamation of the Russian army is a punishable offence in the country.

French President Emmanuel Macron also called for members of the Russian army to be brought to justice for war crimes linked to the Bucha massacre.

“It is clear that today there is evidence of war crimes, it was the Russian army that was in Bucha,’’ Macron told France Inter on Monday.

“International justice must take care of this and those who committed these crimes will have to answer for them,’’ Macron said.

Russian troops shelled more Ukrainian army positions late on Sunday, including command centres and ammunition and fuel depots, Russian armed forces spokesperson Igor Konashenkov said.

Two Buk anti-aircraft system launchers were destroyed, according to Konashenkov.

One of the systems was located in Verkhnyotoretske in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine.

Russian air defence also shot down six Ukrainian drones in the south of the country, he claimed, while three Ukrainian helicopters were hit at the Balovne airfield near Mykolaiv. (dpa/NAN)  (www.nannews.ng)

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Edited by Cecilia Odey/Hadiza Mohammed-Aliyu

 

Foreign

Sri Lanka swears in 4 new ministers

Sri Lanka swears in 4 new ministers

Ministers

Colombo, April 4, 2022 (Xinhua/NAN) Sri Lankan President, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, on Monday swore in four ministers into the new cabinet, hours after cabinet ministers tendered their resignations amidst a severe economic and political crisis in the nation.

Officials from the president’s office said former Justice Minister, Ali Sabry, was sworn in as the new finance minister, while G.L. Peiris was sworn in as foreign minister.

Others sworn in are Dinesh Gunawardena as education minister and Johnston Fernando as highways minister.

More ministers would be sworn into the cabinet in the coming days if the opposition parties agreed to form a united government, officials said.

Sri Lanka has for days been facing public protests calling for immediate measures to be taken by the government to solve the economic crisis; hours-long power cuts and shortages in fuel and other essential supplies.

Sri Lanka’s cabinet ministers offered to resign on Sunday night in response to calls from increasing protests amid economic instability and a severe fuel shortage in the South Asian country.

On Monday, President Rajapaksa extended an invitation to all political parties to join the government to find solutions to the ongoing crisis. (Xinhua/NAN) (www.nannews.ng)

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Edited by Cecilia Odey/Salif Atojoko

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Foreign

Johnson seeks tough NATO response after Ukrainian massacre

Johnson seeks tough NATO response after Ukrainian massacre

Response

London, April 4, 2022 (dpa/NAN) British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, says he hopes to elicit a tough response from allies to the crisis in Ukraine now that Russia stands accused of massacring civilians, with scenes akin to a “horror movie.”

Johnson has already condemned Russia’s “despicable attacks against Ukrainian civilians in Irpin and Bucha, adding that we will not rest until justice is served.”

This week he will welcome the Polish and German leaders to Downing Street for discussions on NATO and how to support Ukraine as it stands up to Russian aggression.

On Sunday, Johnson said “no denial or disinformation from the Kremlin can conceal that Russian President, Vladimir Putin, is desperate and his invasion is failing.”

An adviser to Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelensky, said dead civilians had been found on the streets of the small city of Bucha and the Kiev suburb of Irpin, in what resembled a horror movie.

In Bucha, northwest of Kiev, Ukrainian soldiers used cables to drag bodies off a street from a distance due to fears.

They may be booby-trapped as Russian troops withdraw and focus attacks on other parts of Ukraine.

Ukrainian prosecutor general, Iryna Venediktova, said the bodies of 410 civilians had been found in Kiev-area towns that were recently retaken by Russian forces.

In a statement, Johnson said Britain was stepping up its sanctions and military support, and bolstering humanitarian help for those on the ground.

“The UK has been at the forefront of supporting the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) investigation into atrocities committed in Ukraine.

“The justice secretary has authorised additional financial support and the deployment of specialist investigators we will not rest until justice is served,” he added.

The PA news agency understands this referred to support for the ICC’s investigation announced last week.

Earlier on Sunday, Foreign Secretary, Liz Truss, said “indiscriminate” attacks by Russian forces against innocent civilians in Irpin and Bucha must be investigated as war crimes.

Truss said Britain would not rest until those responsible for atrocities in Ukraine had faced justice.

He added that Russia would not be allowed to cover up its involvement through “cynical disinformation.”

Zelensky spokesperson, Sergey Nikiforov, said authorities in Ukraine had found what looked “exactly like war crimes,” including the bodies of executed civilians and mass graves.

Russia’s Defence Ministry has denied accusations of Russian troops killing civilians in Bucha.

Britain’s Ministry of Defence said in its latest intelligence update that Russian forces, including mercenaries, were refocusing their offensive into the Donbas region. (dpa/NAN) (www.nannews.ng)

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Edited by Cecilia Odey/Salif Atojoko

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Foreign

Schools in Indian capital reopen at full capacity after 2 years

Schools in Indian capital reopen at full capacity after 2 years

Schools
New Delhi, April 1, 2022 (Xinhua/NAN) Authorities in the Indian capital region Friday reopened schools fully in offline mode after a gap of two years.

It was for the first time since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic that physical attendance was made no longer optional.

Schools in Delhi were first closed in March 2020 immediately after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent imposition of a countrywide lockdown.

The classwork resumed after some time in online mode and students were asked to attend classes sitting at their homes while remaining connected to their school teachers via the Internet.

Although the schools reopened for in-person classes multiple times in the past two years, the online mode was never called off.

Last year, schools reopened briefly, however, the second wave of the pandemic, the grave air pollution levels in the capital city and then the Omicron wave forced them to shut down again.

The decision to phase out online classes was taken during the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) meeting in February this year.

Which followed schools were permitted to fully switch to offline classes from April 1, with the onset of the new academic session.

“It’s after two years that schools are reopening and students are excited to get back to school,’’ a local news agency quoted Sudha Acharya.

The chairperson of the National Progressive Schools’ Conference (NPSC) has said.

Teachers said the return of in-person classes would allow students to learn properly.

According to them, the closure of schools during the past two years has resulted in a significant learning gap.

Reports said many schools however stated they would resume classes only from Monday.

“Online classes will be completely be suspended.

“Both students and teachers are happy since a return to the familiar routine is less stressful,’’ said Jyoti Arora, principal of Mount Abu Public School, Rohini said. (Xinhua/NAN) (www.nannews.ng)

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Edited by Cecilia Odey/Hadiza Mohammed-Aliyu

 

Foreign

Sweden’s pandemic law expires as COVID-19 no longer social threat

 

COVID-19

Copenhagen, April 1, 2022 (dpa/NAN) Sweden’s pandemic law has expired as of Friday, meaning the Government no longer has the power to impose a range of legally binding restrictions to contain the spread of COVID-19.

Going forward, there are no requirements related to contact tracing or self-isolation, and COVID-19 is no longer classified as a threat to public health.

The vast majority of Sweden’s COVID-19  restrictions have already been lifted on Feb. 9, 2022.

The Government and health authorities justified the move on the grounds that the country had a high vaccination rate and that infections with the Omicron variant generally resulted in milder cases.

The Swedish public health agency, Folkhälsomyndigheten, said those who were ill with COVID-19 should still stay home. (dpa/NAN) (www.nannews.ng)

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Edited by Cecilia Odey/Vivian Ihechu