Oriontimes

 Governor Ademola Adeleke has directed the Ministry of Works and Infrastructure to rehabilitate and widen the Ibodi-Ilesa road at Ilesa to forestall incessant accidents that have claimed lives in recent times. The State Governor has also directed the Commissioner for Transportation to consider the creation of a trailer park in the area to stop multiple parking of trailers that has endangered lives of road users alongside the area. Governor Adeleke issued the above directives while receiving the report of a Committee he set up after the unfortunate accident that claimed the life of a female staff of the University of Ilesa. While condoling the family of the victim again, Mr Governor endorsed the compensation package already agreed between the owner of the truck and the family of the deceased even as he regretted that no amount of monetary compensation can replace the loss of a precious life. While also approving creation of regulations to govern trucking activities along the said ro...

Jack Smith, the special counsel prosecuting Donald Trump on charges of plotting to overturn the 2020 election, urged the Supreme Court to reject Trump’s argument that he is immune from prosecution for actions he took as president. Lower courts have so far rejected Trump’s claim. The case, which Smith asked the court to address quickly, will be argued on April 25. If it takes a long time to resolve, Trump’s trial could be delayed until after the election, and if he wins the White House, he could order the Justice Department to drop the charges. In another news, An appeals court rejected Trump’s latest attempt to delay his Manhattan criminal trial, which is scheduled to begin on April 15. Details shortly...

  Ecuador's former vice president Jorge Glas has been hospitalized, days after his arrest during a high-profile raid of the Mexican embassy in Quito. Glas was taken to a hospital in Guayaquil after falling ill, the country's national prison agency SNAI said Monday. He became ill after he refused to eat food provided to him while in detention, CNN reports . SNAI said Glas was in a stable condition and would be under observation for the next few hours before being returned to prison.  The news came as Ecuador’s President Daniel Noboa on Monday defended the controversial police raid on Friday that led to Glas’s arrest. Glas, who has been accused by Ecuadorian authorities of embezzling government funds meant to help rebuild after a devastating 2016 earthquake, was seeking asylum at the embassy when the raid took place. He was subsequently transferred to the maximum security La Roca prison in Guayaquil.

 Osun State Governor, Senator Ademola Adeleke has tasked Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company IBEDC to urgently  just as he unveiled the power sector agenda for the state. The Governor made this known when he met the Managing Director of IBEDC in Ibadan, Oyo State Capital. Addressing the management of Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company IBEDC at a private meeting in Ibadan, the Oyo State Capital, Governor of Osun State, Senator Ademola Adeleke described Osun as a critical stakeholder in the Nigerian power sector with Osogbo hosting the National Transmission Control Centre. He said it is therefore unacceptable that the State will be having epileptic power supply, the situation which the Governor stressed has been affecting local economy and businesses badly. Apart from the fact that power outages contribute to growing insecurity, the Governor harped on the extortion of customers through transformer procurement, estimated billing that exploits the consumers and inability...

  ....senegal swears in its  president Senegal inaugurated Bassirou Diomaye Faye as its youngest-ever president on Tuesday, days after he was released from jail where he had been held as a political prisoner. The 44-year-old former tax inspector pledged to clean up corruption and help the country’s unemployed youth as he was sworn in at a ceremony attended by his two wives. “The results of the election showed a profound desire for change,” he said. “Senegal will be a country of hope, at peace, with an independent justice system and a stronger democracy.” Faye was released from prison less than two weeks before the 24 March election following a political amnesty announced by outgoing president Macky Sall. It is his first time in any elected office. The smooth transition was a welcome boost after three years of turmoil in Senegal that had raised concern about democratic backsliding in the coup-prone region of west Africa, where juntas have seized power and cut ties with traditio...

  President Biden and Xi Jinping, China’s leader, discussed issues both cooperative and combative during a rare telephone conversation yesterday. The call was an attempt to buoy a relationship that hit a decades-long low last year. Biden brought up China’s support for Russia in the war in Ukraine, fighting narcotics production, the Middle East conflict, North Korea’s nuclear program and TikTok. He also raised the issue of China’s aggression toward Taiwan and in the South China Sea. Xi criticized U.S. measures to suppress China’s economy, science and technology and called for “concrete actions” from the U.S. to show that the country would not support Taiwan’s independence, according to a Chinese summary of the call. In another news, Janet Yellen, the U.S. treasury secretary, heads to China this week for economic talks, and Antony Blinken, the secretary of state, will follow soon after.   President Biden said that an “outrageous” decision by a Florida court to uphold a restricti...

  In a recent gathering in Abuja, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) reaffirmed its commitment to discipline members found guilty of undermining the party’s interests during the 2023 general elections. The National Organising Secretary (NOS) of the PDP, Capt. Umar Bature (Retd), conveyed this determination during a crucial meeting between the party’s National Working Committee (NWC) and the 36 State Chairmen. The Acting National Chairman of the PDP, Amb. Umar Damagum, reiterated the party’s stance, particularly emphasizing the potential repercussions for figures like former Rivers State Governor, now Minister of the FCT, Chief Nyesom Wike. Damagum emphasized, “…If Wike believes he is above this party, we will be able to show him that he is not above this party.” In its efforts to ensure accountability, the PDP urged state party chairmen and stakeholders to identify and report individuals involved in anti-party activities. Capt. Bature urged, “You are to tell us who did anti-party ...