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Just in: Russia-Ukraine ceasefire talks begin at Belarus border
- Over 500,000 refugees have fled Ukraine, says UN
Ceasefire talks between Russian and Ukrainian officials began on the Belarusian border on Monday as Russia faced deepening economic isolation four days after invading Ukraine.
Russian forces seized two small cities in southeastern Ukraine and the area around a nuclear power plant, the Interfax news agency said.
But they ran into stiff resistance elsewhere as the biggest assault on a European state since World War Two failed to make as much ground as some had expected.
Reuters reports that talks began on Monday with the aim of an immediate ceasefire and the withdrawal of Russian forces, the Ukrainian president’s office said. Russia has been cagier about the talks, with the Kremlin declining to comment on Moscow’s aim.
It was not clear whether any progress could be achieved after Russian President Vladimir Putin put Russia’s nuclear-armed units on high alert on Sunday.
The talks are being held on the border with strong Russian ally Belarus, which has become a launch pad for the invading Russian troops. read more
“Dear friends, the President of Belarus has asked me to welcome you & facilitate your work as much as possible. As it was agreed with the Presidents (Volodymyr) Zelenskiy and Putin, you can feel completely secure,” Belarusian Foreign Minister Vladimir Makei said at the start, according to the foreign ministry’s translation on Twitter.
The Western-led response to the invasion has been emphatic, with sanctions that effectively cut off Moscow’s major financial institutions from Western markets. Russia’s rouble currency plunged 30% against the dollar on Monday. Countries also stepped up weapons supplies to Ukraine.
Blasts were heard before dawn on Monday in the capital Kyiv and in the northeastern city of Kharkiv, Ukrainian authorities said. But Russian ground forces’ attempts to capture major urban centres had been repelled, they added.
The Ukrainian General Staff said Russian forces were focusing on Chernihiv city, northeast of Kyiv, and parts of Donetsk region in the east among other areas.
Kyiv authorities warned residents emerging from a weekend curfew that they would see newly erected fortifications, tank traps and other defensive installations in the streets as the city girds for further battle.
Russia’s defence ministry said its forces had taken over the towns of Berdyansk and Enerhodar in Ukraine’s southeastern Zaporizhzhya region as well as the area around the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant, Interfax reported. The plant’s operations continued normally, it said.
Ukraine denied that the nuclear plant had fallen into Russian hands, according to the news agency.
Dozens of people were killed in Russian rocket strikes on Kharkiv on Monday, Ukrainian interior ministry adviser Anton Herashchenko said.
UN human rights chief Michelle Bachelet said at least 102 civilians in Ukraine have been killed since Thursday, with a further 304 wounded, but the real figure is feared to be “considerably higher”. read more
More than half a million people have fled to neighbouring countries, according to the United Nations refugee agency.
Fighting took place around the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol throughout the night, Pavlo Kyrylenko, head of the Donetsk regional administration, said. He did not say whether Russian forces had gained or lost ground, or provide any casualty figures.
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JAMB, NCC in talks to produce special SIM for students
JAMB, NCC in talks to produce special SIM for students
The Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC, and the Registrar of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board JAMB are in talk over the provision of a specialised SIM card for students which would feature limited services.
Professor Ishaq Oloyede, the Registrar of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), disclosed this on Monday.
Professor Oloyede, accentuating the mounting importance of candidates’ registered telephone numbers, underscored that these SIM cards have become indispensable for executing sensitive operations.
Addressing the media in Lagos on Monday, the Registrar revealed the novel procedure for admission acceptance.
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He stated, “A candidate may either transmit ACCEPT or REJECT via their dedicated telephone line to 55019/66019, or personally endorse or decline any offer of admission (inclusive of programme alterations) using their fingerprint at an authorised CBT centre or any JAMB office.
“These freshly devised methods for admission decisions are designed to safeguard the candidates’ information and maintain the integrity of the admission process.
“With the introduction of this method, the significance of the candidates’ registered telephone (SIM) has escalated, as it is now pivotal for conducting increasingly sensitive operations. We are currently in negotiations with the NCC to establish dedicated SIMs for students with restricted functionalities.”
Out of the 1,842,464 candidates whose results from the 2024 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination were released by JAMB on Monday, seventy-seven percent scored below 200.
JAMB, NCC in talks to produce special SIM for students
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Labour-FG face-off imminent as NLC rejects new salary increase
Labour-FG face-off imminent as NLC rejects new salary increase
The president of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Joe Ajaero, has described the 35 per cent pay rise of the federal government civil servants as mischievous, saying living wage should be N615, 000.
Ajaero stated this while speaking during an interview on Channels Television on Wednesday.
Recall that the federal government approved a pay rise of between 25 and 35 percent for civil servants across various consolidated salary structures on Tuesday.
Ajaero said the last minimum wage of N30,000 expired on April 18.
He said, “We should be in the regime of new minimum wage as of today. Discussions were supposed to have been concluded.
“The federal government through the national assembly legislated on it. But we saw that the discussion entered voice mail because the federal government refused to reconvene the meeting that was adjourned.
“I think the announcement now appears mischievous because there is no wage increase that government is announcing. For them to announce it now, it is an issue that we are worried about at the NLC and even at the TUC.”
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Ajaero said the organised labour has agreed on N615,000 as the living wage for civil servants.
The NLC leader said, “Living wage is such that will, at least keep you alive. It is not a wage that will make you poor and poorer. It is not a wage that will make you borrow to go to work. It is not a wage that will lead you to be in the hospital everyday because of malnutrition. For that living wage, we have tried to look at N615,000.
“Let me give you a breakdown of how we arrived at that figure. We have housing and accommodation of N40,000. We asked for electricity of N20,000 — of course that was before the current tariff increase. Nobody can spend this amount currently. We have utility that is about N10,000. We looked at kerosene and gas that is about N25,000 to N35,000.
“We looked at food for a family of six, that is about N9,000 in a day. For 30 days, that is about N270,000. Look at medical, N50,000 provided there will be no surgery or whatever.
“For clothing, we looked at N20,000. For education, N50,000. I don’t know for those who tried to put their children in private school, they will not be able to cope with this amount. We also have sanitation of N10,000.
“I think where we have another bulk of the money is transportation. This is because the workers stay in the fringes and because of the cost of PMS, that amounted to N110,000.
“That brought the whole living wage to N615,000 and I want anyone to subject this to further investigation and find out whether there will be any savings when you pay somebody on this rate.”
Labour-FG face-off imminent as NLC rejects new salary increase
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FG to give full operating licence to Dangote
FG to give full operating licence to Dangote
The Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) has announced that the commissioning of the 650,000 barrels per day Dangote Petroleum Refinery is imminent. Furthermore, the Authority will soon grant the refinery an operational license.
This announcement was made by NMDPRA’s Chief Executive, Engr. Farouk Ahmed, during a stakeholders’ forum in Abuja, where he revealed that only three refineries currently possess valid licenses.
“We have issue three refineries with three valid licences. We awarded to Dangote Refinery even in their pre- commissioning and sooner than later they will have full commission and a valid license to also operate,” he said.
Ahmed also noted that about 15 gas facilities have valid licences while more were undergoing processing.
According to him, there are 1,199 facilities with valid licences in the downstream.
He also said there are more than 176 operators, who hold gas import permits.
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The Authority Chief Executive also noted that there are 130 depots with valid licences while 69 hold valid coastal vessels licences.
In terms of retail, Ahmed said NMDPRA has licensed 9,464 retail outlets as at 10:00am yesterday.
His words: “In the gas processing facility, within the midstream, there are about 15 of them with valid licenses. And much are under processing.
“If you go to the downstream, in the gas state of the downstream, there are facilities more that 1,199 facilities are with NMDPRA valid licences. More than 176 operators hold gas import permits. In the liquid licensing side of the downstream, there are 130 depots with valid licenses, coastal vessels of more than 69 valid licenses as at today.”
The CEO of NMDPRA emphasized the importance of including midstream and downstream operations in the Host Community framework, as they are impacted by emissions and effluence. He used the examples of the Dangote Petroleum Refinery and NLNG to illustrate the scope of emissions.
He presented data on midstream and downstream operations to help stakeholders understand their reach and encouraged them to provide input on which facilities should be included in the Host Community and the criteria for doing so. The forum was organized to gather stakeholders’ ideas and feedback.
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