Author: Vardiafrica

China, Qatar, Switzerland and others pledged over $170 million for the World Health Organization (WHO) at its assembly on Tuesday, the agency said, and countries also accepted higher fees to help offset the expected loss of the US, the top donor. “In a challenging climate for global health, these funds will help us to preserve and extend our life-saving work,” Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO director-general, said in a statement on new donations covering 2025-2028. A WHO list showed that host Switzerland gave $40 million; Sweden gave $13.5 million; Angola gave $8 million; Qatar gave $6 million; while other pledges…

Africa has launched its first continental space agency to enhance Earth observation and data sharing at a time when a more challenging global environment is restricting access to climate and weather information. The African Space Agency was inaugurated last month under the African Union’s umbrella and is based in Cairo. Currently in the process of establishment and recruiting key personnel, the agency will oversee coordination of existing national space programs. Its goal is to strengthen the continent’s space infrastructure by deploying satellites, installing weather stations, and ensuring data sharing across Africa and beyond. “Space activities across the continent have been…

Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) and Green Energy International Limited on Monday graduated 20 trainees in critical engineering competencies as part of a 12-month capacity building initiative for oil and gas industry operations. At a close-out ceremony at the NCDMB Training Centre in Yenagoa, trainees received international certification in their different areas of specialisation. For Piping Engineering, trainees received Autodesk Inventor Certificate, while others in Project Management and Engineering received America’s PMI (Project Management Institute) Certificate, the most widely recognised certification in the world. Trainees in Electrical Engineering had City and Guilds Certificate, while others in Safety Engineering…

The Monetary Policy Committee of the Central Bank of Nigeria has retained the country’s interest rate at 27.50 per cent for the second time in 2025. The Governor of CBN, Olayemi Cardoso, disclosed this during a press briefing on Tuesday after the 300th MPC meeting in Abuja. “The Committee was unanimous in its agreement to hold all parameters,” he said This second pause in rates comes after six consecutive hikes recorded in 2024. More details shortly…

Members of the Trade Union Congress (TUC) on Tuesday staged a dramatic protest at the Federal Ministry of Finance in Abuja, shutting down operations by locking the main entrance and blocking vehicle access to the premises. Dressed in striking red T-shirts, the aggrieved unionists voiced their discontent over unpaid allowances and outstanding emoluments. Though they declined to speak directly to the media, placards displayed during the protest bore bold messages demanding the payment of salary arrears and delayed entitlements. The demonstration brought official activities at the ministry to a standstill and attracted the attention of civil servants, visitors, and passersby.…

 Rivers State Administrator, Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas (retd.), says his administration is laying a solid foundation for good governance in the state, driven by strong institutions, a results-oriented public service, and sustained capacity building. Ibas stated this on Monday in Port Harcourt while declaring open a 4-Day Transformational Leadership Training Workshop for Sustainable Development, organised by the Rivers State Government in collaboration with the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies. The training, which began on Monday, brought together Permanent Secretaries, Local Government Administrators, and Directors from various ministries across the state. Ibas, in his speech, said the workshop represented…

The UK, France and Canada have warnedIsrael they will take “concrete actions” if it continues an “egregious” expansion of military operations in Gaza. Sir Keir Starmer joined the French and Canadian leaders to call on the Israeli government to “stop its military operations” and “immediately allow humanitarian aid to enter Gaza”. No food, fuel or medicine had been allowed into Gaza since 2 March, a situation the UN previously described as taking a “disastrous toll” on the Palestinian population. Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded by saying the three leaders had offered a “huge prize” for Hamas in the Gaza…

The South-East Caucus in the House of Representatives has called for the resignation of the Registrar of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), Prof Ishaq Oloyede, over what it described as a “catastrophic institutional failure” in the conduct of the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME). The position was conveyed in a statement signed by Honourable Igariwey Enwo, as the lawmakers strongly criticised JAMB for the technical glitches that affected nearly 380,000 candidates — many of whom are now required to resit the exam. “Last week, particularly on May 14, 2025, the Registrar of JAMB, Professor Ishaq Oloyede, publicly…

Amid growing rumours of a possible coalition among opposition leaders to unseat President Bola Tinubu in 2027, the presidential candidate of the Labour Party in the 2023 election, Peter Obi, has said that the only coalition he is interested in is the one against hunger, poverty, and the terrible state of healthcare and education in Nigeria. Obi, who visited the Bishop of the Anglican Diocese of Kubwa in Abuja on Monday, emphasised that he was not desperate for any position. “I am in a coalition against hunger, in coalition against poverty, coalition against bad state of health. Politics for me…

The news comes nearly a year after the former president was forced to drop out of the 2024 US presidential election over concerns about his health and age. He is the oldest person to have held the office in US history. Biden, then the Democratic nominee vying for re-election, faced mounting criticism of his poor performance in a June televised debate against Republican nominee and current president Donald Trump. He was replaced as the Democratic candidate by his vice-president, Kamala Harris. Prostate cancer is the second most common cancer affecting men, behind skin cancer, according to the Cleveland Clinic. The…