Author: Osas Monday

North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles Tuesday, Seoul said, Pyongyang’s second launch in three days and the first since South Korea and the United States began their largest joint military drills in five years. Washington and Seoul have ramped up defence cooperation in the face of growing military and nuclear threats from the North, which has conducted a series of increasingly provocative banned weapons tests in recent months. South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said the military had “detected two short-range ballistic missiles” fired between 7:41 am (2241 GMT) and 7:51 am, which flew some 620 kilometers. “Our military…

Cyclone Freddy, packing powerful winds and torrential rain, killed at least 70 people in Malawi and Mozambique on its return to southern Africa’s mainland, authorities said Monday. The post Cyclone Freddy returns killing 70 in Malawi, Mozambique appeared first on The Guardian Nigeria News – Nigeria and World News.

The Biden administration, brushing aside pressure from environmentalists, on Monday approved a controversial oil drilling project on Alaska’s North Slope. The Interior Department gave the green light to US energy giant ConocoPhillips to drill for oil at three sites in the federally owned National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska’s pristine western Arctic. During the 2020 presidential race, Joe Biden had vowed not to approve any new leases for oil and gas projects on federal lands and his administration had been under intense pressure by environmental groups in recent days not to approve the so-called Willow Project. Alaska lawmakers and other backers…

Shanghai Customs on Monday said Shanghai’s Waigaoqiao Port had seen a total of 1,845 tonnes of sesame imported from Africa this year, marking a year-on-year increase of 4.3 times. Shanghai Customs said China is currently the largest import market for African sesame, with Waigaoqiao serving as the main port of entry into Shanghai. It said during the first two months of this year, sesame imports mainly came from Mali, Togo, Mozambique, Niger, and Tanzania. Wu Zhigang, who owns a grain and oil enterprise located in the city of Kunshan, east China’s Jiangsu Province, said that due to their high quality…

Iran insisted on Monday that it had reached a prisoner exchange deal with arch foe the United States, a day after Washington denied the claim as “an especially cruel lie”. Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani said “a written agreement exists on the issue of US prisoners” and that it could be implemented if the American side takes a “realistic approach”. Three US citizens are among at least 16 Western passport holders now detained in Iran on various charges. Most hold dual nationality, which Iran does not recognise. The United States and the Islamic republic do not engage in direct…

UK hospital doctors on Monday began a three-day strike over pay at the start of a week that will also see teachers, train staff and civil servants walk out, in the latest wave of industrial action. The doctors say years of below-inflation pay increases mean they have effectively had a 26 percent pay cut since 2008. Ahead of the stoppage, the body that represents them, the British Medical Association (BMA), launched an advertising campaign claiming a newly qualified doctor earned less than some coffee shop staff. “Pret a Manger has announced it will pay up to £14.10 ($17.13) per hour,”…

Arms imports into Europe almost doubled in 2022, driven by massive shipments to Ukraine, which has become the world’s third-largest destination, researchers said Monday. The post Fuelled by Ukraine, European arms imports double in 2022 appeared first on The Guardian Nigeria News – Nigeria and World News.

Hundreds of people tried to storm the US-Mexico border on Sunday, after a rumor that migrants would be allowed to cross into the United States. Around noon, a large crowd of mainly Venezuelans began to gather near the entrance of a bridge connecting Mexico’s Ciudad Juarez to El Paso, Texas in the southern United States. Frustrated by delays and difficulties in applying for asylum in the United States after journeys thousands of miles long through Central America and Mexico, some told AFP they thought they would be allowed entry because of a supposed “day of the migrant” celebration. Images on…

The UK arm of failed US lender Silicon Valley Bank has been sold to HSBC for a nominal £1 ($1.2) in a rescue deal, the government and HSBC announced Monday. The deal, overseen by the Bank of England and the Treasury, comes after SVB collapsed Friday sparking panic in Britain over its customers in the technology and life science sectors. “Silicon Valley Bank (UK) Ltd has today been sold to HSBC,” said a Treasury statement after urgent talks over the weekend. “This transaction has been facilitated by the Bank of England, in consultation with the Treasury, using powers granted by…

At least 22 migrants died when their boat sank off the coast of Madagascar over the weekend, the island nation’s maritime authorities said on Monday. “Forty-seven people had clandestinely taken a boat headed to (the French territory of) Mayotte, but that sank,” the Madagascar maritime authority APMF said in a statement. “Twenty-three of the passengers were able to be saved. Twenty-two bodies were found,” it said, adding that the accident occurred on Saturday and that search-and-rescue operations were continuing for the two people who remained missing. Many migrants try each year to reach the French territory of Mayotte, which lies…