Foreign News
Former UN Secretary General Lauds Gambari’s Appointment
By Mathew Dadiya, Abuja
Former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon has described the appointment of Prof Ibrahim Gambari as Chief of Staff to President Buhari as a great asset to Nigeria and Africa ”in a broader sense.”
The ex UN scribe praised the appointment in a letter of congratulations addressed to Prof Gambari, dated May 18, 2020.
Moon wrote: “I would like to sincerely congratulate you on your recent appointment as Chief of Staff to H.
”Your appointment is a great asset not to the President of Nigeria but also your country Nigeria and Africa in a broader sense.
”I am confident that your invaluable experience gained while serving the UN, with various important leadership roles, will help your leadership in addressing these challenging times caused by COVID-19.
”I shared this good news with the former Minister Yoo Chong-ha, your good friend and former Foreign Minister of Korea. He sends his warmest congratulations to you.”
The 8th Secretary-General of the UN, who penned his congratulatory letter from his base in Seoul, South Korea’s capital, said he looked forward to meeting his former colleague at the UN again, while wishing the accomplished Nigerian diplomat success on his new assignment.
Similarly, UK High Commissioner to Nigeria, Catriona Laing, has also expressed delight with the appointment of Prof Gambari as the Chief of Staff to the President.
The High Commissioner said the Mission looked forward to working closely with the Chief of Staff on ”our shared agenda in the challenging COVID-19 times.”
Foreign News
Cambodia Arrests 2 Foreigners for Smuggling 2.27 kg Narcotics
Cambodian customs police at the Phnom Penh International Airport said they have arrested two South Korean nationals for an attempt to smuggle 2.27 kg narcotics to South Korea.
The duo, a man and woman, were caught Sunday night while they checked in for a ZA215 flight bound for Seoul.
The General Department of Customs and Excise of Cambodia said in a news release on Monday.
In their body searches, our customs officials found many packs of drugs wrapped around their waists, the news release said.
“As a result, some 1.29 kg of crystal methamphetamine and 0.98 kg of ketamine were seized from the two suspects’ possession.’’
The Southeast Asian country has no death sentence for a drug trafficker.
Under its law, someone found guilty of trafficking more than 80 grammes of illicit drugs could be jailed for life.
According to the country’s Anti-Drug Department (ADP), Cambodia nabbed 3,899 drug-related suspects, including 106 foreigners, in 1,659 cases from Jan. 1 to March 3, 2024.
According to the report they confiscated a total of 2.79 tonnes of narcotics.
Most of the seized drugs were ketamine, crystal methamphetamine, methamphetamine tablets, heroin, ecstasy, and cocaine. (Xinhua/NAN)
Foreign News
February Ends with Extreme Heat – WMO
The UN weather agency, the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO), says February saw more extreme heat and unusually high temperatures in both hemispheres.
Summarising the state of the climate, it said the month ended with extreme heat in the southern hemisphere where it is summer, while high temperatures atypical of the northern hemisphere winter prevailed.
Parts of North and South America, northwest and southeast Africa, southeast and far eastern Asia, western Australia and Europe all saw record-breaking temperatures, either on a daily basis or for all of February.
“The anomalous heat is consistent with the persisting warming observed since June 2023, with seven consecutive new global monthly temperature records, including January 2024,” Alvaro Silva, a climatologist working with the WMO, said in a statement.
Global sea surface temperatures were record high. While the El Niño weather pattern “has stoked temperatures in some parts of the world, human induced climate change is the long-term major contributing factor,” he added.
Conversely, a large part of northwestern Canada, central Asia – and from southern central Siberia to southeastern China – witnessed exceptional cold during the last week of the month.
The meteorological winter in the northern hemisphere and summer in the southern hemisphere finished officially at the end of February.
Meanwhile, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) raised increasing concern on Friday that more refugees would cross into Chad from Darfur in the coming weeks amid a worrying lack of food and other essentials.
Almost a year since the start of the civil war between rival militaries in Sudan, neighbouring Chad urgently needs more humanitarian aid and significant development investment, the agency reported, especially in its eastern areas which are hosting the refugee influx.
This investment will allow the country to continue its generous open-door stance towards refugees.
“Chadian officials are concerned that many more hungry Sudanese families will come in the next weeks,” said Kelly Clements, UNHCR’s Deputy High Commissioner, who is in the country to review the relief operation.
“The country is committed to keeping its borders open, despite the fragility of this region.
“But, doing so will put even more strain on Chad, which has so graciously been hosting refugees from Sudan’s war – now raging almost a year – and other refugees still here from earlier emergencies.” (NAN)
Foreign News
More Than 30,000 Killed in Gaza Strip War – UN Officials
More than 30,000 people have been killed in the Gaza Strip since Israel launched its military offensive in October, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights said on Thursday.
Volker Türk quoted the number during a meeting of the UN’s Human Rights Council in Geneva.
The head of the UN’s World Health Organisation (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, also used the figure in a post on X, formerly twitter.
“The death toll in Gaza has surpassed 30,000 a large majority women and children.
Over 70,000 Palestinians have been injured,” he wrote.“This horrific violence and suffering must end. Ceasefire.”
Neither Türk nor Tedros quoted a source.
An official confirmation from the health authorities in Gaza, who usually post the figures daily, is expected later.Israel launched its assault on the Gaza Strip in response to Palestinian militants from Hamas and other Palestinian terrorist organisations killing of more than 1,200 people inside the Jewish state on October 7. (dpa/NAN)