NEWS
COREN sets up Monitoring Teams to Prevent Building Collapse
Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN) has set up project monitoring teams, as part of efforts to curb building collapse in the country.
President of the council, Mr Ali Rabiu, who disclosed this to newsmen on Saturday in Kano, said the measure had become necessary in view of rampant cases of building collapse, resulting in loss of lives and property.
The president noted that one of the council’s mandates was to ensure proper monitoring of projects to safeguard lives and property.
“We will not relent in ensuring strict compliance with the rules and regulations, while people were constructing projects,” he said.
Rabiu explained that before 2019, the council lacked powers to punish any violator except those on their register, adding that the punishment was only suspension from practice.
“But today, the law has been amended to allow us to sanction any Nigerian, whether engineer or not, who commits infraction in engineering practice.
“And, the punishments include prosecution of offenders that may lead to imprisonment and withdrawal of licences,” he said. (NAN)
Marcus Trescothick has insisted he wants to continue working with England’s Test team even though Mike Hussey has revealed an approach by incoming head coach Stephen Fleming to effectively replace him.
Trescothick has been a member of England’s backroom staff since 2021 and is currently leading the Test side on an interim basis ahead of Fleming’s arrival.
Former opening batsman Trescothick and returning captain Joe Root oversaw an innings and 103-run thrashing of Pakistan in the first Test at Headingley on Friday as the hosts went 1-0 up in a three-match series.
Former Australia international Hussey has said he is considering an offer to work as England’s Test batting coach, effectively Trescothick’s role, after being approached by Fleming, his former boss at Chennai Super Kings.
“I’d love to carry on, of course,” said Trescothick.
The 50-year-old, a member of England’s 2005 Ashes-winning team, added: “I’ve a huge amount of respect for Stephen and what he’s done in the game, he was a fantastic captain and leader, and has done a brilliant job doing what he’s done as a coach.
“It’s really not in my job (description) or position to judge that. We’ll wait until we get the tap on the shoulder.”
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian defended a recent memorandum of understanding as the best way for the country to move beyond what he described as a situation of “neither war nor peace.”
In a speech published by state-run IRNA early on Sunday, he said members of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council believed the memorandum represented the best possible agreement based on what he described as dignity, wisdom and the national interest.
“There is not a single provision in this agreement that amounts to capitulation,” Pezeshkian said. “The supreme leader sets the policies, and we will follow that path.
”The deal known as the Memorandum of Understanding that US President Donald Trump signed in June set an ambitious 60-day deadline for ending the war with Iran and reaching an accord on its nuclear program. That period ended last week, but the two sides remain far apart, with no signs of compromise on the crucial issue of reopening the Strait of Hormuz, vital to global shipping.
Pezeshkian also linked the agreement to Iran’s economic prospects, saying the country could not attract investment in this stalled phase.
“Capital and money are extremely sensitive to risk,” he said. “We have to remove this risk from the country.”
Nearly six months into the war with the United States and Israel, the Iranian economy is suffering under sanctions and a naval blockade.
Pezeshkian acknowledged that his country’s citizens face “many problems,” after the United States launched a new wave of sanctions seeking to further isolate its economy.
“I understand we have many problems in society right now. We are trying to prevent these as much as we can,” Pezeshkian said.
Pezeshkian said that, thanks to Trump, Iran was “in a full-scale economic, military and security war.”
“He says he is imposing the most crushing and terrifying sanctions on Iran,” Pezeshkian said.
Meanwhile, the hard-line new leader of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council warned Tehran’s neighbors against joining the new US effort to hurt Iran’s economy.
“If (Trump) wants to do something, we will retaliate in a seismic manner,” Mohsen Rezaei said in an interview with the state broadcaster that aired Saturday.
Rezaei was named this month as part of senior appointments widely seen as hardening Tehran’s political and military stance. His interview with IRIB is his most extensive public statement since then.
Rezaei said Iran would target oil-shipping routes out of the Persian Gulf — alternatives to the Strait of Hormuz — if neighbors join what he described as the economic war against Iran.
Trump in the past week has vowed to increase Iran’s pain by imposing an “unprecedented” level of economic warfare and isolation. Iran has lived under sanctions for years.
Foreign News
Iran FM, Pakistan Military Chief Discuss Regional Devts as US Eyes New Tehran Sanctions
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and Pakistan’s defense forces chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir, discussed regional developments and efforts to advance diplomatic solutions, Iranian state media reported on Sunday, as Washington plans to announce new sanctions targeting Tehran.
After nearly six months of war since the US and Israel launched airstrikes against Iran on February 28, the sides are not firing at each other but also showing no sign of pursuing peace talks.
Oil shipments are at a virtual standstill in the Strait of Hormuz, with Tehran threatening to strike any unauthorized oil tankers that try to transit the vital waterway, and Iran’s economy is already under immense pressure from sanctions.
Pakistan, which helped broker an interim US-Iran peace deal in June, has been engaged with the leaderships of the US and Iran in efforts to broker peace between the two countries since their conflict broke out in February this year.
“During the telephone conversation, both sides reviewed the latest regional developments and discussed various dimensions of the current situation,” Iran’s state-run IRNA new agency reported, following telephonic conversation between FM Araghchi and Field Marshal Munir.
“The two sides also exchanged views on diplomatic trends, ongoing efforts to advance political and diplomatic solutions, and ways to enhance bilateral consultations and cooperation.”
This is the second time Araghchi has spoken to Munir, who emerged as a key figure in US-Iran negotiations, about regional developments in less than a week.
The development comes after US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent threatened “the toughest sanctions in history” on Iran. He has also urged cooperation with Washington by China, which buys more than 80 percent of Iran’s shipped oil, according to 2025 data from analytics firm Kpler. Beijing has urged diplomacy.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Esmaeil Baghaei, said on Saturday the imminent US announcement of new economic sanctions was an “assertion of extraterritorial sovereignty over every independent member state of the United Nations.”
The US-Iran war has driven oil prices higher and created inflationary pressures, especially for countries like Pakistan who heavily depend on the Middle East for their fuel needs. Iran has frequently attacked its neighbors in its Gulf region since the war began, firing missiles and carrying out drone attacks the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar and other countries.
Islamabad has repeatedly called for diplomacy to resolve the conflict and said last week it was making “all-out efforts” through direct and indirect channels to bring Washington and Tehran back to the negotiating table.
