SEOUL : South Korea’s finance ministry said on Tuesday there was a strong downward risk to the government’s budget revenue projection this year mainly from a slowing economy, both at home and abroad.
“There is a strong downward risk from factors including a slowdown in corporate earnings and asset transactions, while there is also a high uncertainty ahead on the economic and asset price outlook,” the ministry said in a statement.
There was no indication of any imminent plan to revise this year’s budget from the statement, which was issued mainly to emphasise the sound management of the budget.
South Korea’s budget covering the year ending on Dec. 31 has set tax and non-tax revenue rising by 0.1 per cent to 425.4 trillion won ($328.4 billion), while income from public funds is set to grow 8.8 per cent to 200.3 trillion won. ($1 = 1,295.3700 won)
The minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika has said, Nigeria and Qatar should maintain a sustainable relationship, stating that Nigeria is yearning for investments and is also committed to its policy of ease of doing business for investors.
Sirika made this statement during a courtesy visit of the Charge d’Affaires of Qatar, Ahmed Mohammed Y.E Al-Hor to the ministry on Monday, in Abuja.
Spokesperson of the ministry, Odutayo Oluseyi said the minister noted that the rate of returns on investments in Nigeria is 34 per cent and the highest in the world with a population of over 200 million people.
According to the minister, Qatar is rich in oil and gas with other arears of investments just as Nigeria equally has infrastructures required for a smooth business operation.
However, Sirika further noted that Nigeria and Qatar need to improve their visa policy, noting that the restrictions on both sides are making it difficult to connect the two countries as expected.
Dutch police block streets during the 2021 Amstel Gold Race in Valkenburg
The Dutch cycling federation (KNWU) is bracing for an even worse shortage of motorcycle police to control events on open roads that threatens the racing calendar after the National Police abruptly decided to prohibit local motorcycle officers from being deployed to control traffic for cycling events.
Dutch races typically employ a mix of specifically-trained (C2) and regional (C1) officers to secure road race courses. The National Police opted to ban the use of C1 officers. According to a press release by the KNWU, the decision will likely force organisers to changed dates or cancel races altogether, since it will exacerbate an already severe shortage of trained motorcycle officers.
The press release did not state whether the move will disrupt the UCI races.
The Netherlands are due to host the UEC European Road Championships in Drenthe in September along with 15 elite UCI events, including the WorldTour Amstel Gold Races for men and women, the Simac Ladies Tour on the Women’s WorldTour, the Pro Series ZLM Tour, four one-day men’s races and two for women, along with six UCI-sanctioned races for juniors or under-23s.
The bigger races employ large fleets of motorcycles to carry race officials and marshals, photographers and television cameras. Motorcycle police are typically used to drive ahead of the race to close roads and prevent motorists from driving onto the course and potentially endangering riders.
A shortage of trained police motorcycle officers has already led to changes to the road calendar in the Netherlands over the past five years, with some races being held without police, and others shifting to closed circuits. The federation have also been trying to plug the holes with volunteer motorcycle drivers.
To stave off mass cancellation of road events, the KNWU appealed to the National Police to reverse its sudden decision.
“In addition, the KNWU calls on the Ministry of Justice and Security to speed up the use of pilots with well-trained, volunteer motorcycle supervisors. The KNWU believes it is high time that the cycling race is included in the road traffic law, so that the division of responsibilities between all road users, volunteers, police, motorcycle support teams and of course the riders is finally properly arranged.”
Unity Bank Plc has facilitated financial literacy training in thirty-one schools across Nigeria as part of its activities marking Global Money Week, 2023.
The Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Unity Bank Plc, Mrs. Tomi Somefun took part in the programme by facilitating training on financial literacy at Kabayi Secondary School, Mararaba, Nasarawa state recently
Represented by the Group Head, Customer Engagement, Unity Bank Plc, Mrs. Titilayo Abraham, the participants gained useful insights on wealth creation, which have money, saving, investing, and entrepreneurship remain the common denominator.
Stressing the need to enhance financial education and financial inclusion, Mrs. Somefun’s interaction with the students was aimed at inculcating basic principles for financial management. Students who stood out in the course of the Training were rewarded.
Global Money Week is a Child and Youth Financial International initiative observed annually in over 178 countries between March 22 and 28 by corporate organisations globally.
Nashville Mayor John Cooper said too many children are dying from guns — a point punctuated by a mass shooting at an elementary school Monday morning that killed six people, three of them children.
“The leading cause of kids’ death now is guns and gunfire and that is unacceptable,” Cooper said.
A recent study published in the journal JAMA Pediatrics in December backs that point, finding that homicide is aleading cause of death for children in the United States and the overall rate has increased an average of 4.3% each year for nearly a decade.
Cooper said he is “overwhelmed at the thought of the loss of these families, of the future lost by these children and their families.”
He said the community needs to come together and support each other.
DULUTH, Minn. — There has been some discussion about possible changes in how the interstate goes through downtown Duluth.
Now the University of Minnesota Duluth has added to the conversation. A study concludes that freeing up land for other uses could infuse between $500 million to over $4 billion to Duluth’s economy.
The potential economic effects have been studied by the Labovitz School of Business and Economics. The study looks at the I-35 one-mile stretch that separates the central business district from the waterfront.
The Bureau of Business and Economic Research also joined in the study. The goal was to look at what could happen if that area was opened up to alternate uses.
The study includes five case studies of other communities that have considered similar projects known as “rightsizing.”
McDonald’s Korea was given a fine of 696 million won ($532,110) on Wednesday after the personal data of 4.87 million customers was leaked to hackers due to the firm’s lax data management. The Personal Information Protection Commission handed out the fine to the Korean branch of the American fast food chain, along with a financial penalty of about 10 million won for the data breach. According to the commission’s findings, McDonald’s Korea did not perform sufficient access control, leaving a backup file containing the personal data of its restaurant and McDelivery customers accessible via protocols for file sharing. As a result, the personal data of more than 4.87 million customers was hacked and leaked. McDonald’s Korea was also found to have not destroyed the personal data of 766,846 customers for whom the data retention period had expired, and belatedly notified authorities and customers of the data leakage.
In Chilobwe Township within Blantyre, Malawi’s commercial capital, residents say a stream of water cascaded from nearby Soche mountain at midnight, literally sweeping everything along its path. A few people managed to escape, but dozens were found dead by morning, mostly buried in the mud, as the death toll rose to 500 across the country.
“What happened is something that I’ve never seen in my whole life,” Dumisani Mtolo, 30, a taxi driver and a father of two who resides in the township, tells The Africa Report. “I woke up during the night only to find the wall of my house crumbled. Luckily no one in the house got hurt.”
Christophe Laporte and Wout van Aert exchange a few words on the way to the Gent-Wevelgem finish
Throughout the 1990’s as they dominated the Classics scene across Europe, the Belgian Mapei superteam epitomised their Latin ethos of Vincere Insieme as they swept up victories left right and centre from a handful of different riders.
Translated to English, it means to win together, and more than a decade later Jumbo-Visma are repeating their same Classics dominance, but under a different phrase with a similar meaning, Samen Winnen, winning together.
Wout van Aert’s willingness to sacrifice his own ambitions for those of his teammate Christophe Laporte at Gent-Wevelgem lived and breathed that ideology. It was a continuation of Jumbo-Visma’s collectivism which has already brought them huge success this spring.
Before Sunday’s result, no other team had managed to win Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne, the E3 Saxo Classic, and Gent-Wevelgem in the same season. Although on the penultimate ascent of the rain-soaked Kemmelberg, Van Aert and Laporte set to work to ensure Jumbo-Visma became the first to do so.
When the finish arrived, handing the win to Laporte also bought Van Aert the undying loyalty of a perfect ally to help him achieve his Tour of Flanders dream next Sunday.
Brought in from Cofidis prior to the 2022 season, Laporte was instrumental in much of his team’s success last year. Van Aert knew this, and discussing the decision making behind handing Laporte the win in Wevelgem, he highlighted the Frenchman’s willingness to work for their shared goals post-race to the media.
“He is such a team player, so it was an easy decision,” Van Aert said, thinking ahead to the final phase of racing in the dust of Flanders next weekend. The Belgian will need all the team players he can muster if he is to overcome the looming threat of Tadej Pogačar.
In the aftermath of it all, those questioning Van Aert have evidently missed the bigger picture.
How could he possibly have given away such a result when he was the strongest rider on the Kemmelberg? Where was the killer instinct in him, and why didn’t he ride away when Laporte faded on the final ascent?
WINNING TOGETHER
Wout van Aert and Laporte at Gent-Wevelgem
Firstly, Van Aert had just landed a morale boosting win over his Flanders rivals at the E3 Saxo Classic on Friday, he didn’t need yet more assurance of his own ability. He doesn’t need to prove anything.
Not having a second Gent-Wevelgem title on his palmarès isn’t suddenly going to put Van Aert out of work in his post-racing career. A second win would have meant little compared to the significance of winning Flanders or Paris-Roubaix in the coming fortnight.
Instead, Van Aert opted to go all in for a teammate proving that the words Samen Winnen have weight to him, and you really cannot buy that type of team spirit reverberating around Jumbo-Visma currently.
Cycling has moved on since the likes of Tom Boonen and Van Aert’s other critics were active in the peloton. The current generation understands there are other ways to win that don’t require bulldozing all before you, furthermore teammates don’t exist solely for the purpose of handing bottles and food to their leaders.
Wout van Aert and Christophe Laporte at Gent-Wevelgem
Speaking to HLN, Johan Museeuw suggested Van Aert may look back on this particular moment in retirement and be full of regret.
“In 15 years, Wout might think back to this moment and be angry with himself,” he said, adding his voice to the chorus of ex-Belgian riders, including Eddy Merckx, who while admitting that they understood the thinking behind it, also questioned Van Aert’s final decision to simply hand over Gent-Wevelgem to the Frenchman.
Meanwhile Boonen even suggested to Sporza that the duo should have sprinted it out, implying that Laporte’s win looked good solely from a marketing point of view, and that giving away Gent-Wevelgem was a bigger loss to Van Aert than the previous victory he handed to Laporte at Paris-Nice.
Clearly anticipating the naysayers, Van Aert begged to differ, recognising the importance of sometimes putting your teammates over your own agenda. Laporte was yet to win a major Classic, so it made sense to help a loyal, trusted lieutenant add to his list of wins as they built form together, and team morale ahead of the races still to come.
“FRIENDS ARE GOOD ON THE DAY OF BATTLE”
Christophe Laporte wins Gent-Wevelgem 2023
Plus, the pair appear to genuinely be friends. “People at home only see this race, but Christophe is a good friend,” Van Aert said. “We have been on the road together for a whole year… and when you get into this situation, it would feel strange to sprint against one another.”
In the heart of the Somme battlefields of the First World War in France, there is an ancient Gaelic proverb, carved into the memorial to the 51st Highland Division near Beaumont Hamel.
“La a’Blair s’math n Cairdean” which in English translates to “friends are good on the day of battle”.
As they traversed the battlefields further north around Ypres, riding away from Laporte on the Kemmelberg would have been a kick in the teeth to a friend who has proved so invaluable for Jumbo-Visma and Wout Van Aert to date. A friend that he will want firmly by his side when the inevitable attacks from Mathieu van der Poel rain down on the Oude Kwaremont on Sunday.
“It was a dream of mine- like winning a stage of the Tour de France– to win a Classic, and I’ve done it now, thanks to the team and thanks to Wout,” Laporte said as he reflected on the significance of his latest win in the colours of his new team.
On paper, Laporte could feasibly win either Flanders or Roubaix himself in the coming weeks. Although Samen Winnen, winning together, may well prove more important. Now that one man’s Classics dream has been fulfilled, expect to see him going all out to help another achieve his Flanders dream on Sunday.
Journalist Jalingo was remanded for allegedly insulting Gov Ayade’s in-law
Justice Zainab Abubakar of a Federal High Court in Abuja,
ordered the remand of a journalist and publisher of an online medium, CrossRiverWatch, Agba Jalingo, at the Kuje Custodial Center Abuja, for allegedly publishing an article that was deemed ‘insulting’ to Mrs Elizabeth Ayade.
Mrs Elizabeth Ayade is the wife of the younger brother of the Cross River State Governor, Ben Ayade.
The two charges bordering on alleged false publication intended to cause annoyance, ill will, and insult to the person of Mrs Ayade, wife to Mr Frank Ayade, were preferred against Mr Jalingo in suit numbered, FHC/ABJ/CR/565/2022.
The journalist allegedly committed an offence punishable under Section 24 (1)b of the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, Etc) Act 2015.
Upon arrangement on Monday, Jalingo pleaded not guilty to both charges when they were read out to him in the open court.
The prosecution counsel, Fidelis Ogbobe, sought a date to commence trial which the defense counsel, Baba Isa, did not oppose but pleaded that the matter be stood down as the lead defense counsel, Marshal Abubakar, was on his way.
However, Ogbobe opposed Isa’s application, citing Section 354 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, 2015 which stipulates that when parties are called, the court shall proceed to hear the matter.
He argued that, “The excuse is a calculated attempt to postpone the arraignment,” and asked the court to not take the defence seriously.
Meanwhile, Isa pleaded that the sins of the counsel should not be visited on the defendant, in the interest of justice.
However, Justice Abubakar indulged the prosecution counsel and did not grant Isa’s application.
When Mr Marshall Abubakar appeared in court, Justice Abubakar noted that in her records, he was absent from court, as she also declined the defense’ request to move the motion for bail.
Justice Abubakar subsequently ordered that Jalingo be remanded at the Kuje Custodial Center, and adjourned the matter till March 30, 2023, to take the defendant’s bail application and May 31, 2023 for trial.
Mrs Elizabeth Ayade had, in July 2022, through her lawyer, Uyi Obayagbona, written to Mr Jalingo, seeking a retraction of an article that queried why a suspended staff of the University of Calabar, Paschal Aboh, was facing trial for allegedly impersonating a student of the Nigerian Law School, Abuja campus (Mrs Ayade), while the person (Mrs Ayade) who allegedly contracted him walks free.
Mrs Ayade had demanded that an apology be published in two national dailies, including, but not limited to Facebook, Instagram, and “Cross River Watch” (not CrossRiverWatch), as well as a payment of NGN500 million in damages.
Jalingo was given a 14-day ultimatum to comply, otherwise legal proceedings will be filed against him.
However, police operatives from the FCT Command on August 19, 2022, stormed Jalingo’s Ogudu residence in Lagos State and arrested him, several hours after holding his wife and daughter hostage.
He was subsequently detained at the Alapere police station and later at Area F Command in Ikeja before he was flown to Abuja the next day. It was revealed that Mrs Ayade had petitioned the police and accused Jalingo of allegedly defaming her character.
Jalingo was released at night and asked to return two days later on August 22, but was later told by the police to return back to Lagos since Mrs Ayade failed to show up at the FCT Police Command.
In January 2023, the police reportedly abandoned the criminal defamation allegation, and opted to charge Jalingo for alleged cybercrime.
