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Nigerian President appoints former top general as Defence Minister
Bola Tinubu has nominated the former Nigerian top general as the new defence minister. The previous minister resigned due to a surge of mass kidnappings in the north and Islamist attacks, which led to the declaration of a state emergency. Christopher Musa (58) served as Nigeria’s Chief of Defence Staff between 2023 and October of this year. He will succeed Mohammed Badaru Abubakar who, as a former regional Governor, quit his position as Defence Minister on Monday for health reasons. Tinubu sent the nomination to the parliament in a written letter, according to the President's Office. In a press release, his spokesperson Bayo onanuga stated that Tinubu had expressed confidence in Musa's abilities to lead the Ministry of Defence as well as strengthen Nigeria's Security Architecture. Tinubu announced the appointment just days after Tinubu a Security emergency In response to the worsening violence. More than 200 schoolchildren The gunmen who kidnapped the students from a Catholic School on November 24, remain unaccounted for. According to the United Nations, at least 402 persons have been abducted since mid November. Tinubu ordered the recruitment and enlistment of more than 50,000 police officers. He also directed the redeployment of police who were assigned to guard VIPs to the frontline. Forest guards were also deployed to flush out armed groups. Cheta Nwanze is a partner at SBM Intelligence. She said that insecurity was spreading into Nigeria from the Sahel region. Nwanze said that the change of personnel was not enough. A fundamentally new approach to security, one that is based on community trust, must be adopted. This should address both internal governance issues and regional threats. Donald Trump, the U.S. president, has been closely monitoring Nigeria's treatment of Christians. He threatened military action last month over this issue. Nigeria claims that claims of persecution against Christians are inaccurate and ignore efforts to protect religious freedom. Washington is considering counterterrorism actions, including engagement and sanctions, according to a senior U.S. State Department Official on November 20. Reporting by Ahmed Kingimi; Writing by Elisha Gbogbo, Ben Ezeamalu and Alexander Smith.
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Owner of damaged oil tanker near Senegal announces it will cease all Russian operations
Besiktas Shipping - the Turkish owner who owns an oil tanker damaged by four external explosions last week near Senegal - announced on Tuesday that all Russian interests in its shipping operations would be discontinued. Mersin was anchored near Dakar on November 27 when four explosions caused seawater to enter the engine room. The explosions' cause was not known. Besiktas Shipping announced in a press release that it had ceased all operations with Russia and would not be taking any voyages related to Russia. It said: "Throughout our operations we adhered strictly to all international sanction regimes. We maintained full compliance with all relevant trade restrictions and the G7/EU price cap mechanism." The security situation has deteriorated in the area. "After a thorough analysis, we concluded that the risk posed to our ships and crew has become unacceptably high," the statement added. We have halted all operations of this nature because the safety and security of our personnel is our top priority. A Ukrainian official stated on Saturday that the blasts occurred a day after Ukrainian naval drones struck two sanctioned oil tankers near Turkey's coastline in the Black Sea as they were heading to a Russian Port to load oil. A second tanker, this one carrying sunflower oil and flying the Russian flag, reported a drone strike off the Turkish coast Tuesday. Ukraine denied involvement in the recent attack. However, a Turkish official stated that "necessary message" was conveyed to everyone involved, including Ukrainian authorities. According to its website, Besiktas Shipping of Istanbul is one of the largest tanker owners in Turkey. It has 29 tanks in its fleet. Enes Tunagur, Tuvan Gumrukcu and Sharon Singleton contributed to this report.
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Michael and Susan Dell will invest $250 in the accounts of 25,000,000 U.S. Children
Michael Dell and Susan Dell, as part of Invest America's $6.25 billion philanthropic initiative, will each deposit $250 into the accounts of 25,000,000 American children. This initiative was launched this year as part of President Donald Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill Act. The U.S. Treasury Department will deposit $1,000 in investment accounts for every child born between 2025-2028. At age 18, the funds, which must be invested in a fund that reflects the performance of the stock market, are available for education, training, buying a home, or starting a small business. The Dells released a statement saying that they believed this initiative would expand opportunities, strengthen communities and help more kids take control of their own future.
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Pope's prayers renew hope for justice for Beirut Port Blast victims
Nelly El Helou, who lost her daughter five years ago in a chemical explosion that devastated Beirut's Port, said Pope Leo’s silent prayer on the scene Tuesday was enough for her to renew hope that those responsible would be held accountable. Political interference has stymied an investigation into whether officials were aware of hundreds of tonnes explosive ammonium-nitrate in the port before the explosion on August 4, 2019. Leo said a silent prayer on the site, Tuesday. It was the last day of Leo's first overseas visit as pontiff. He lit a candle and laid a flower wreath at the memorial before greeting tearful survivors and relatives of those who died. Some kissed and bowed his hand while pointing at the photos of their loved ones who had died. Helou stated that Leo's arrival sent a message to "that we were not abandoned and we are not alone". "He told us to not drown in our grief, but to rise above it... But resurrection is impossible without accountability. She told her daughter Nicole that they must be held responsible for their crimes. All we ask for is justice Families and rights groups from Lebanon demanded that the judiciary in Lebanon issue a preliminary arrest warrant establishing full responsibility for the explosion, which was thought to be caused by a fire close to the chemicals. Tatiana Hasrouty's father Ghassan, who was killed in explosion, is a lawyer aged 25 whose father died. She said Leo's trip showed that he "sees our pain and he's there to give us hope", after five years of little government engagement on their cause. Leo handed out rosaries to many in pouches with his coat of arm. Melvine Khoury asked to hug Leo after being injured in the blast. Leo accepted, and the two hugged. Cecile Roukoz's brother Joseph, who also worked in the port, was killed. She said Leo’s "silent prayers is enough for us." The Pope's message was clear. Politicians in the country need to be near the people and do justice. "All we want in this case is for justice to be done for those who have fallen here," said the woman. Leo expressed his deep emotion in his farewell remarks, before departing Lebanon. He said: "I pray for the victims and I carry the pain, the thirst for justice and truth of so many families and an entire nation with me." (Reporting and writing by Emilie Madid; editing by Alex Richardson).
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Heirloom, a climate tech company, secures additional Japanese investment in advance of Japan's carbon markets launch
Heirloom, a company that specializes in climate technology, announced on Tuesday it had received additional funding from Japanese companies as Japan prepares to expand the carbon market by 2026. The Development Bank of Japan, engineering group Chiyoda Corp and the Californian company did not reveal the amount of investment or the valuation of the money raised. Heirloom raised $150 million in a Series B funding round from Japanese investors last year including Japan Airlines, Mitsubishi Corp, and Mitsui & Co. The GX-ETS Carbon Market in Japan, which was launched as a voluntary scheme in 2023, will be mandatory in 2026. It will allow companies to meet their compliance targets by allowing international credits for carbon removal, such as direct-air capture. Shashank Samala, Heirloom's Chief Executive Officer, said that "these investments from DBJ & Chiyoda strengthen the technical and financial basis for building large-scale direct air collection (DAC) systems. These systems will provide CO2 to clean fuels and enable permanent carbon removal." Heirloom will open the first commercial direct air capture facility in the United States in Tracy, California, by 2023. The facility is designed to capture about 1,000 metric tonnes annually. It's part of an expansion aimed at reducing costs from the current levels of $600-$1,000 a ton towards the $100 target set by the U.S. Government. (Reporting and editing by Vijay Kishore in Bengaluru, Yagnoseni das in Bengaluru)
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The death toll in Indonesia from floods and landslides has passed 700
The disaster agency reported that the number of deaths from floods and landslides in Indonesia's Sumatra Island rose to 708 people on Tuesday as authorities raced to repair infrastructure and provide aid to areas cut off. In a late-night press conference on Tuesday, the agency said that 708 people were killed since the last week. This is a lower number than the 753 listed on the website earlier in the morning. The agency did not explain the difference. Nearly 900 people were killed by floods and land slides that wreaked havoc on Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand. This follows months of severe weather conditions in Southeast Asia including typhoons which struck Vietnam and the Philippines, and frequent and prolonged flooding in other parts. Local officials and environmental experts have stated that deforestation in Sumatra is responsible for a disproportionately high death toll. The Indonesian disaster agency stated that teams are prioritising the distribution of aid via land sea and air as well as clearing blocked roads and repairing damage infrastructure. Abdul Muhari, spokesperson for the company, said: "We hope we can accelerate logistics distribution." (Reporting and editing by Ananda Terresia, Martin Petty).
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Serbia will permit payments and transactions for Russian oil company NIS this Week
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic announced on Tuesday that the government will allow payments and transactions to the U.S. sanctioned Russian oil company NIS, until the end the week. This is despite the threat of secondary sanctions. The temporary measure is intended to assist NIS with paying workers and making other transactions, after the U.S. Treasury Department placed sanctions on NIS back in October. These sanctions were part of broader sanctions against Russia's oil and gas industry following its invasion of Ukraine. They followed a series waivers that began in January. Gazprom and Gazprom of Russia, who own the majority of NIS, are required to sell their shares in the company. The U.S. has imposed sanctions on NIS because it is owned by Russians. Vucic, the Serbian president, said that payments made by Serbia's banks, including its central bank, will continue through Monday. After meeting with energy officials, he stated, "We have agreed to, at the risk to Serbia, ensure payment transactions to NIS until the weekend... in order to allow NIS workers to be paid and make payments due." Vucic stated that the only NIS-owned oil refinery in the country, which has a capacity of 4.8 millions tons, would have to close this week, unless it receives a reprieve from sanctions. The potential closure of the refinery could have a negative impact on the economy of Serbia, as NIS employs 14,000 people and contributes 5% to the GDP of Serbia, along with 10% of the budget revenues. Serbia currently imports the majority of its requirements from Hungary. Vucic warned of the logistical strains, such as the distribution of fuel at fuel stations throughout the country due to the limited storage and offloading capacity. Vucic announced last week that Belgrade would give Gazprom and Gazprom a 50-day deadline to sell their shares in NIS, or else the government would buy out NIS and take over its operations. Reporting by Ivana Sito-Sucic, Aleksandar Vaovic and Daria Sekularac; Editing and production by Jan Harvey and Bernadettebaum
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Ivory Coast cocoa regulator restricts transport permits to ease congestion in ports and boost cocoa sales
The Ivory Coast Cocoa Regulator has limited the issuances of transport permits of cocoa beans only to the ports of Abidjan or San Pedro in order to reduce congestion and to ensure that farmers receive their guaranteed farmgate prices, said its managing director on Tuesday. Kone, the director of the Coffee and Cocoa Council, explained that the congestion in exporter's factories at the beginning of the season led to a false impression of excess production. This caused bean purchases to slow down and pushed farmgate prices well below the guaranteed levels. He said that in October and November, the backlog of trucks at factories reduced incomes for producers as prices dropped from the guaranteed farmgate rate of 2,800 CFA Francs ($4.95) per kilo to 2,500 CFA Francs. "We will only approve (beans') transport in accordance with each factory's capacity to unload. Kone explained that, for example, if the factory is only able to unload 16 trucks a day, only 16 trucks would be allowed to transport cocoa in its name. He also added that this measure has reduced port congestion and increased market efficiency. These restrictions have reduced the long-term sales delays that previously forced farmers to either sell at a discount or wait for weeks before receiving payment. Kone said that December is the peak production period, and prompt action has improved conditions from the last week in November. Kone is concerned about a decline in cocoa production. The CCC estimates that production for the main harvest of this year will be only 1.3 millions tons, down from 1.7million tons three years earlier. He said that the situation is unlikely to change for several years, due to the large investments needed to get back to prior levels. Kone, despite lower production, said that the regulator was pleased with sales. However, he described the situation for the long-term prospects of the sector as difficult.
Traxtion invests $199 Million in new trains as part of South African rail reform
Traxtion announced on Tuesday that it will invest 3.4 billion Rand ($199 million) into new locomotives and wagons, as the freight company prepares for its first run of trains on South Africa’s mainlines after reforms open the network to private operators.
Transnet, the state-owned railway operator, has been struggling to deliver reliable services due to equipment shortages and maintenance delays after years of underinvestment. Cable theft and vandalism have further hindered the network.
Traxtion's investment, which is active in 10 African nations, signals a growing confidence of the private sector in rail reform. It also gives a boost to the efforts to move cargo from roads to rail. The increased capacity could ease a national shortage that has been weighing on commodity exporters.
The investment consists of 1.8 billion rand for 46 diesel-electric engines and 1.6 million rand for 920 wagons. The state-owned KiwiRail in New Zealand will supply the locomotives. They are expected to begin operating within 12 months.
Traxtion CEO James Holley said to reporters that the new trains would be able to handle about 5% demand.
He said: "We're confident that there is a demand for high-quality assets with high capacity that are available at an affordable price and can be brought to the market very quickly."
Holley stated that the locomotives would be used primarily on routes for bulk commodities, as they were economically viable due to the state of the rail infrastructure.
He did not mention the routes, but said that the company had already begun discussions with customers.
Transnet's limited production capacity has forced bulk mineral exporters like Kumba Iron Ore, Thungela Resources and thermal coal exporter Kumba Iron Ore to reduce their production.
(source: Reuters)