France Closes Roads As Cold Wave Hits

 

In the northern town of Blendecques, the frosty weather turned mud on the roads to ice.

French authorities temporarily closed two motorways on Tuesday as authorities scrambled to deploy salt trucks and tow vehicles after a cold wave hit the country.

“Everything is being done to resolve this as fast as possible,” Transport Minister Clement Beaune said on Tuesday morning, when 400 vehicles were blocked on icy roads in the Paris region.

Beaune, whose future is uncertain ahead of an expected cabinet reshuffle, argued the national weather agency had not predicted the snow overnight.

He told radio broadcaster RMC that the situation was improving since 1,000 trucks and cars had initially been blocked on the roads near the capital at the start of the night.

The A13 and A12 motorways west of Paris were cordoned off “to guarantee commuters’ safety”, police said.

A 10-kilometre (six-mile) stretch of the A13, which connects the capital to western France, would be closed all morning, the transport ministry said.

Thermometers across the country were forecast to drop below zero degrees Celsius (32 degrees Fahrenheit) on Tuesday, except for a tiny sliver of southeastern France, according to the national weather office.

Nine departments were on “orange alert” because of icy roads and snow, while two in the north were on the same alert level because of floods last week, it said.

The cold was expected to compound problems in the northern region of Pas-de-Calais near the Belgian border, which has seen devastating floods in recent weeks.

In the northern town of Blendecques, the frosty weather turned mud on the roads to ice.

Two departments in northwest France halted school transport for the day.

On Monday, Deputy Minister for Housing Patrice Vergriete said 120 million euros ($130 million) had been earmarked to provide emergency shelter for some 10,000 homeless people, especially women and children.

Around 3,000 women and children could be in need of shelter, according to estimates by the United Nations children’s agency UNICEF and non-governmental organisations.

Pope Francis Calls For Global Ban On Surrogacy

 

In his New Year's address to diplomats at the Vatican, the 87-year-old pontiff said it was a "grave violation of the dignity of the woman and the child".

Pope Francis called Monday for a global ban on surrogacy, saying the practice of a woman carrying another person’s child was “deplorable”.

In his New Year’s address to diplomats at the Vatican, the 87-year-old pontiff said it was a “grave violation of the dignity of the woman and the child”.

In a speech dominated by calls for an end to conflicts around the world, the head of the worldwide Catholic Church said: “The path to peace calls for respect for life.”

This began “with the life of the unborn child in the mother’s womb, which cannot be suppressed or turned into an object of trafficking”, he said.

“In this regard, I deem deplorable the practice of so-called surrogate motherhood, which represents a grave violation of the dignity of the woman and the child, based on the exploitation of situations of the mother’s material needs.

“A child is always a gift and never the basis of a commercial contract. Consequently, I express my hope for an effort by the international community to prohibit this practice universally.”

In June 2022, the pope condemned surrogacy as an “inhuman” practice.

“Altruistic” surrogacy, whereby a woman gives birth to a baby on behalf of another woman or couple but no money changes hands, excluding for expenses, is legal in countries including Belgium, the Netherlands, the UK, Canada, Brazil and Colombia.

Commercial surrogacy is permitted in some US states.

Osimhen Dreams Of AFCON Title To Break Eagles’ 11-Year Jinx

"All of us are desperate to make up for failing to reach the 2022 World Cup. The only way we can achieve that goal is by wining the Cup of Nations."

Newly crowned African Player of the Year Victor Osimhen is a star on a mission. He wants to transform the suffering of Nigerian supporters into joy with an Africa Cup of Nations title.

The Napoli forward topped the African poll last month to finish ahead of Egyptian Mohamed Salah and Moroccan Achraf Hakimi and become the first Nigerian winner since Nwankwo Kanu in 1999.

It was a reward for helping his club to a first Italian title in 33 years and also scoring consistently for the Super Eagles.

But amid the successes there was also sadness for the 24-year-old, who sold newspapers and bottles of water in the bustling streets of Lagos as a teenager to eke out a living.

The day that has haunted Osimhen for a long time was March 29, 2022, at the Moshood Abiola National Stadium in the Nigerian capital, Abuja.

Earlier, Nigeria travelled to long-time regional rivals Ghana and drew 0-0 in the first of two matches to decide whether the Black Stars of Super Eagles would qualify for the 2022 World Cup.

As Nigerian supporters flocked to the national stadium expectations were high that the home team would use that advantage to good effect and secure a place at the finals in Qatar.

But those dreams were shattered as Ghana drew 1-1 to qualify on away goals and deprive Osimhen and his teammates of a place on the global stage.

“We could not have asked for more from our supporters in Abuja that night,” recalled Osimhen to reporters before leaving Italy to join the Cup of Nations squad.

‘Let them down’ –

“They roared us on from the first whistle to the last. The noise they created was deafening. but we let them down and that hurt. Nigerians deserved better.”

Now Osimhen believes he has the perfect antidote to the lingering suffering of supporters — Nigeria must win the biennial Cup of Nations a fourth time.

The Super Eagles triumphed at home in 1980, slamming three unanswered goals past Algeria, then edged Zambia 2-1 in Tunis in 1994 and Burkina Faso 1-0 in Johannesburg in 2013.

Since overcoming the Burkinabe, Nigeria have been on a Cup of Nations rollercoaster, failing to qualify in 2015 and 2017, finishing third in 2019 and making a last-16 departure two years ago.

Paired with Ivory Coast, Guinea-Bissau and Equatorial Guinea in the first round in Group A, Nigeria are expected to contest first place with the hosts.

Teams finishing first and second in each group are guaranteed knockout-stage places and the four best-ranked of the six third-placed sides also progress.

“We are capable of winning this tournament because the squad is packed with players who are performing exceptionally well for their European clubs,” says Osimhen.

“All of us are desperate to make up for failing to reach the 2022 World Cup. The only way we can achieve that goal is by wining the Cup of Nations.”

Ivory Coast, twice champions but flops when they previously hosted the tournament 40 years ago, have no shortage of stars and Algeria coach Djamel Belmadi says “they are the team to beat”.

“We will enjoy the support of the entire Ivory Coast nation, which is an incredible asset to have,” says Ivory Coast coach Jean-Louis Gasset.

Workmanlike Equatorial Guinea have reached the knockout stage in all three previous appearances while Guinea-Bissau, who won a 2024 qualifier in Nigeria, are seeking a first finals victory.

Death Toll From Japan Quake Rises Above 200

 

The 7.5 magnitude quake destroyed and toppled buildings, caused fires and knocked out infrastructure on the Noto Peninsula.

The death toll from the powerful earthquake that flattened parts of central Japan on January 1 passed 200 on Tuesday, with just over 100 still unaccounted for, authorities said.

The 7.5 magnitude quake destroyed and toppled buildings, caused fires and knocked out infrastructure on the Noto Peninsula on Japan’s main island Honshu just as families were celebrating New Year’s Day.

Eight days later thousands of rescuers were battling blocked roads and poor weather to clear the wreckage as well as reach almost 3,500 people still stuck in isolated communities.

Ishikawa regional authorities released figures on Tuesday showing that 202 people were confirmed dead, up from 180 earlier in the day, with 102 unaccounted for, down from 120.

On Monday, authorities had more than tripled the number of missing to 323 after central databases were updated, with most of the rise related to badly hit Wajima.

But since then “many families let us know that they were able to confirm safety of the persons (on the list)”, Ishikawa official Hayato Yachi told AFP.

With heavy snow in places complicating relief efforts, as of Monday almost 30,000 people were living in around 400 government shelters, some of which were packed and struggling to provide adequate food, water and heating.

Almost 60,000 households were without running water and 15,600 had no electricity supply.

Road conditions have been worsened by days of rain that have contributed to an estimated 1,000 landslides.

At a daily disaster-relief government meeting on Tuesday, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida instructed ministers to “make efforts of resolving the state of isolation (of communities) and continue tenacious rescue activities”.

Kishida also urged secondary evacuations to other regions outside the quake-hit area, top government spokesman Yoshimasa Hayashi told reporters.

In Ishikawa prefecture’s city of Suzu, a woman in her 90s managed to survive five days under the wreckage of a collapsed house before being saved on Saturday.

“Hang in there!” rescuers were heard calling to the woman, in police footage from the rainy scene published by local media.

Not all were so lucky, with Naoyuki Teramoto, 52, inconsolable on Monday after three of his four children’s bodies were discovered in the town of Anamizu.

“We were talking of plans to go to Izu,” a famous hot spring resort, after his daughter passed her high school entrance exam, he told broadcaster NTV.

Japan experiences hundreds of earthquakes every year, though most cause no damage because of strict building codes in place for more than four decades.

But many structures are older, especially in rapidly ageing communities in rural areas like Noto.

The country is haunted by the monster quake of 2011 that triggered a tsunami, left around 18,500 people dead or missing, and caused a nuclear catastrophe at the Fukushima plant.

Source: AFP

German Football Great Franz Beckenbauer Dies At 78

 

Former captain of the German team in the 1970s, Beckenbauer had in the last years been suffering from health problems.

Legend Franz Beckenbauer, who left a unique imprint on German football as player, captain, and coach, has died at the age of 78, the German Football Association said Monday.

“Franz Beckenbauer was definitely the biggest German footballer of all time, and above all one of the greatest men who I have known,” said DFB vice president Hans-Joachim Watzke.

Beckenbauer, one of only three men to win the World Cup as a player and as a coach, passed away on Sunday, the DFB said.

Former captain of the German team in the 1970s, Beckenbauer had in the last years been suffering from health problems and lived mostly withdrawn from the public eye in Salzburg, just across from the German border.

Known in football-obsessed Germany as ‘the Kaiser’ meaning ‘the Emperor’, Beckenbauer played a central role in some of the country’s greatest sporting achievements, but his legacy was later tarnished for his involvement in scandals surrounding Germany’s successful bid to host the 2006 World Cup.

Commanding Figure  

In Munich in 1945, Beckenbauer helped establish Bayern as his country’s strongest club.

Alongside Mario Zagallo — who died aged 92 on Friday — and Didier Deschamps, Beckenbauer is one of only three men to have won the World Cup as both a player and a manager.

He captained West Germany to the 1974 World Cup title on home soil when they beat the Netherlands 2-1 in the Munich final, then managed the team that beat Argentina 1-0 in Rome to lift the trophy at Italia 90.

Beckenbauer, a commanding figure on and off the pitch, was named European Footballer of the Year in both 1972 and 1976.

He made 424 appearances in the Bundesliga, scoring 44 goals, including in 13 years for Bayern, before joining Hamburg and New York Cosmos, where he finished his playing career in 1983.

Beckenbauer had stints as manager in club football at both Bayern and Marseille, winning the French league title in 1991 and the Bundesliga in 1994.

In 1996, he stopped coaching and his role as president of Bayern led to a place on the Executive Committee of football’s governing body FIFA.

Off the field, Beckenbauer led Germany’s successful bid to host the 2006 World Cup, a successful tournament that is still nostalgically referred to in Germany as “das Sommermaerchen” — ‘The summer fairytale’.

However, the story turned sour in October 2015 when Spiegel broke a cash-for-votes scandal story.

The magazine alleged that, in 2000, the German Football Association (DFB) had bought the votes of four Asian members of FIFA’s 24-strong executive committee to secure the hosting of the 2006 World Cup finals. Beckenbauer had maintained his innocence.

Beckenbauer had heart surgery in 2016 and again in 2017 when worrying news about his ill health began to emerge.

At the beginning of January 2023, the football icon renounced his presence at the funeral of Pele. A few months later in August, he had missed the traditional annual gathering of Germany’s 1990 world champions.

On each of these occasions, health had been cited as a reason.

The last time he appeared at Bayern Munich’s Allianz Arena was in August 2022, when he attended a match of Bayern Munich against Borussia Moenchengladbach.

NIS Launches Automated Passport Application

The Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo assured the public that this new solution will enhance national security and data protection.

The Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) on Monday launched the automated passport application process to expedite passport acquisition for Nigerians.

The NIS in a statement on Monday said the launch followed a live demonstration session hosted by the Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, unveiling the functionality of the new system to stakeholders from across the country on Saturday in Abuja.

Speaking during the technical session, the Minister noted that the new reform seeks to redefine how citizens enrol and procure the international passport in line with the Renewed Hope agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

With an emphasis on convenience, reduced processing time, and an overall seamless experience, the Minister assured the public that this new solution will enhance national security and data protection.

He said: “With the new solution, application, processing, review, and approval will all be done online. On knowledge transfer, we have trained our officers to assume the new roles.

“With what we have done now, we have reduced the process of requesting for a passport to about six minutes. This does not require anybody to visit the immigration office and it will reduce the pressure on the immigration officers.

“As I speak, we have made arrangements for power and internet service providers to ensure at least 99.9% uptime. By February, Nigerians in the diaspora can have this same experience.”

On identity theft, the Minister disclosed that the Service has also achieved its objective of harmonization of data through its technical handshake with the National Identity Management Commission, NIMC.

Speaking on the readiness of the system and the men of the Service, the Comptroller General of NIS, Mrs Adepoju Carol Wura-Ola, stated that the new process was a result of hardwork and determination of the Service.

She said: “What you’re seeing today is the product of dedication and motivation to see that an end comes to the stress, pains, and hardship that Nigerians go through to procure the international passport both at home and in the diaspora.

“We are motivated to stamp out corruption. That the Green Passport is restored to its place of pride. The Minister, Hon. Dr. Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo has challenged the Service, and has provided resources and technical know-how.”

Israeli Strike Kills Hezbollah Commander In Lebanon

 

Israeli Strike Kills Hezbollah Commander In Lebanon

Tawil "had a leading role in managing Hezbollah's operations in the south", the security official said, requesting anonymity for security reasons.

Israel killed a top commander of the Iran-backed Hezbollah group in a strike on south Lebanon, a security source told AFP Monday, adding to fears the conflict in Gaza could spread.

Hezbollah later announced the killing of a “commander” for the first time, naming him as Wissam Hassan Tawil. It said he died “on the road to Jerusalem” — the phrase used for fighters killed by Israel.

Tawil “had a leading role in managing Hezbollah’s operations in the south”, the security official said, requesting anonymity for security reasons.

The official added that the commander, who held several other top positions in the group, “was killed in an Israeli strike targeting his car in the south”.

Tawil was the highest-ranking Hezbollah member to be killed since the group and Israel began exchanging near-daily cross-border fire after the Israel-Hamas war broke out on October 7.

The killing of Hamas’s deputy leader in Beirut last week has raised fears of a wider conflagration.

Saleh al-Aruri, killed in a missile strike widely attributed to Israel, was the most high-profile Hamas figure to die during the war, in the first attack on Beirut since the fighting began.

On Friday, Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah warned Israel his fighters would respond swiftly to Aruri’s killing. The group claimed an attack on an Israeli air control base the next day.

On Saturday, European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell met Mohammed Raad, head of Hezbollah’s parliamentary bloc, in Beirut as part of a push to avoid Lebanon being dragged into the Israel-Hamas conflict.

In November, Raad’s son was killed in an Israeli strike in south Lebanon along with five other fighters, the group had said.

Nearly three months of cross-border fire have killed more than 180 people in Lebanon, including over 135 Hezbollah fighters, but also more than 20 civilians including three journalists, according to an AFP tally.

In northern Israel, nine soldiers and at least four civilians have been killed, according to Israeli authorities.

Source: AFP