Author: NPO Admin II

The global organisations that buy Covid vaccines for poorer countries “need to step up” and order doses from Africa’s only Covid vaccine maker in order to save the production line, the company’s senior executive told the BBC. This follows warnings from Aspen Pharmacare that it may have to stop production at its South African plant. It has been hit by low demand. Fewer than one in six Africans have had two doses of a coronavirus vaccine, with many reluctant to get jabbed. The continent’s top health body has also urged those buying the jabs for Africa to place orders with…

Chelsea have agreed terms on the £4.25bn ($5.2bn) sale of the club to a consortium led by Todd Boehly, co-owner of the LA Dodgers baseball team. The club was put up for sale before owner Roman Abramovich was sanctioned for his alleged links to Russian president Vladimir Putin following the invasion of Ukraine. A Chelsea statement said the new owners will pay £2.5bn for the club’s shares. The proceeds will go into a frozen bank account to be donated to charity. The consortium is led by Boehly but Clearlake Capital, a Californian private equity firm, would own a majority of…

Italy has ordered the seizure of a $700m yacht linked to Russia’s President Vladimir Putin. The Scheherazade has been undergoing repairs at a port in Tuscany since September last year. Italy’s finance ministry said that the boat’s owner had ties to “prominent elements of the Russian government”. It is being seized under EU sanctions brought over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine that have seen other vessels confiscated. What sanctions are being imposed on Russia? The exact owner of the Scheherazade has not been established but US officials told the New York Times it could belong to Russia’s president. Supporters of the…

Prince Harry and Prince Andrew will not appear on the Buckingham Palace balcony as part of opening celebrations for the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. The monarch will be joined on 2 June only by “members of the Royal Family who are currently undertaking official public duties”, Buckingham Palace said. Despite not appearing on the balcony, Prince Harry and his wife Meghan will travel to the UK for the Jubilee. The Queen, 96, plans to attend some Jubilee events, the palace said. But her attendance won’t be confirmed until nearer the time, or even on the day, after mobility problems led her…

Any peace deal with Russia would depend on Russian forces pulling back to their pre-invasion positions, Ukraine’s president says. Speaking to a London think tank, Volodymyr Zelensky said that was the minimum that his country could accept. He said he was the leader of “Ukraine, not a mini-Ukraine”. But he did not mention Crimea, annexed by Russia in 2014. Russia is currently battling to take full control of the city of Mariupol. There are still Ukrainian forces along with some civilians in the south-eastern city’s vast Azovstal steelworks, which has been subjected to a furious Russian onslaught. Finally taking Mariupol…

At least 22 people have died and more than 60 have been hospitalised after a massive explosion rocked one of Cuba’s most exclusive five-star hotels. It is believed a gas tanker which was parked outside the Saratoga Hotel in Old Havana ignited, causing an explosion which destroyed several floors of the building. The historic hotel was set for a post-pandemic reopening in four days. It now lies in ruins, with much of its outer wall torn off. Search and rescue operations are currently under way to locate people trapped under the debris. The Cuban presidency said the dead included a…

Russia is already under unprecedented sanctions and now the EU could target Alina Kabaeva, a politician, media boss, former Olympic gymnast, and – if the rumours are true – Vladimir Putin’s girlfriend and mother to some of his children. The sanctions imposed by the EU and others are designed to punish those closest to Mr Putin – the oligarchs, politicians and other officials said to have benefited from their proximity to the president. Last month, the US and UK imposed sanctions on his daughters Maria Vorontsova, 36, and Katerina Tikhonova, 35. They are his children with ex-wife Lyudmila. Until now,…

Seven bodies have been buried in Mai’Aduwa Village in Katsina, Northern Nigeria after their boat capsized while returning from an end-of-fasting prayer. Their funerals were held in the evening of Thursday after divers recovered their bodies in the remote area of Mai’Aduwa in Katsina State, according to emergency officials. It was learnt that most of the victims were women and children returning from a village they had visited for the Eid holiday earlier this week. Two people survived, but it is still not clear what caused the boat to overturn. Officials say boat services in the area, where many rely…

The former interim national chairman of the All Progressive Congress, Chief Bisi Akande, says South West presidential aspirants of the party , governors and other leaders are united ahead of the 2023 general elections. Addressing newsmen at the end of a meeting with presidential aspirants from the zone on Friday night in Lagos, Akande, however, urged party stalwarts and aspirants “to talk to themselves and the public with absolute decorum”. According to the former governor of Osun, the South-West APC leaders are united and will work to ensure that the 2023 presidency comes to the South-west. “We are united as…

The United Kingdom has said it has not tagged the proscribed Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB) a terrorists group. In a statement of clarification Friday night, the UK Mission in Nigeria said it was aware of misleading media reports which claimed that the government of the United Kingdom had categorized the group as a terrorists group. “We are aware of inaccurate reporting circulating in the media and online that the UK Government has added the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) to the UK’s list of terrorist groups or organisations banned under UK law” “These reports are untrue. The ‘Indigenous People…