ALL THE RELEVANT NEWS: MONDAY

16 Jan ALL THE RELEVANT NEWS: MONDAY

🌎President Buhari is to receive “African Award for Strengthening Peace” in Nouakchott, Islamic Republic of Mauritania. Spokesman Femi Adesina, in a statement issued on Sunday, said the award by the Abu Dhabi Peace Forum would be conferred on him for his leadership role in promoting peace on the continent, through regular inventions, counsels and conciliatory position.

🌎Oil prices fell on Monday over China’s COVID case surge, but they are still near 2023 highs. Brent crude fell 62 cents, or 0.7%, to $84.66 a barrel by 0745 GMT.

🌎VP Osinbajo will depart Abuja for Monrovia, capital of Liberia, for a summit tagged “Conversation with the Vice President and Young People,” hosted by his Liberian counterpart, Dr. Jewel Howard-Taylor. He returns today.

🌎The CBN has announced an Anti-Money Laundering, Combating the Financing of Terrorism and Countering Proliferation Financing of Weapons of Mass Destruction in Financial Institutions) Regulations, 2022, (CBN AML/CFT/CPF Regulations) to check abuses in the financial system.

🌎The Bank of Industry has clarified the implementation and disbursements grants under the NG-CARES programme following questions raised by some stakeholders. It says the funding arrangement allows each state the autonomy to determine their preferred grant sizes and number of grants across different programme components as approved by the World Bank.

🌎The Chairman of the Special Investigative Panel on Crude Oil Theft/Losses, Maj Gen Barry Ndiomu (rtd), has said that the panel will submit its report in February.

🌎The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) has confirmed 42 additional COVID-19 infections in the country in two weeks, with Lagos State recording 27 cases.

🌎The Chief of Defence Staff, Lucky Irabor, has said that the armed forces has plans in place to support the police during the general election.

🌎Security Stories: The Edo State Police Command said on Sunday 12 more passengers who were abducted at the Ubeaja train station have been rescued unhurt on Saturday in Ughboa Forest.
* Terrorists struck on Sunday in Katsina State the New Life For All Church in the Kankara Local Government Area kidnapping at least 25 worshippers.
* A 51-year- old woman, Oluwatoyin Ojo, the wife of a staffer of the NNPC at the Warri Depot, has been reportedly kidnapped in Osogbo, the capital of Osun State.

🌎Russia-Ukraine War: Russia and Belarus began joint military exercises on Monday, which have triggered fears in Kyiv and the West that Moscow could use its ally to launch a new ground offensive in Ukraine.
* The death toll from a Russian missile strike on a Dnipro apartment building rose to 35 as rescue efforts continued into Monday. A wave of Russian strikes over the weekend hit Ukraine’s utility infrastructure, leading to emergency power cuts for many regions, Kyiv’s energy minister said.
* Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says that fighting for the eastern town of Soledar is fierce and ongoing. Russia has claimed it now controls the territory.