Abuja, July 30 (IANS) In a bid to avoid “undesirable outcomes” of planned nationwide protests this week, the Nigerian government has appealed for calm while calling on the youth to shelve the demonstrations and make way for continued robust dialogue to address their grievances.

The protests by the youth are planned to begin Thursday across Africa’s most populous country, with the proponents calling on the government to address the economic hardships amid the serious cost-of-living crisis.

Minister of Information and National Orientation Mohammed Idris told the media Monday in Abuja, the country’s capital, that while the government is not opposed to peaceful protests as a “democratic right of every Nigerian,” it is appealing to the youth first to shelve the plan.

Citing the history of protests in the country, Idris said there is a likelihood that this planned nationwide protest might be hijacked by “unscrupulous elements, and turn violent,” Xinhua news agency reported.

“Indeed, the president is already doing those things that they want the government to do. For example, the government is making efforts to ensure that food is made available,” the minister said while reeling out several government interventions, including the distribution of food items to the poor, efforts to curtail the prices of food, the disbursement of student loans, and the reduction of transportation costs with the country’s compressed natural gas revolution.

Last year, the Nigerian government removed the subsidies on petrol or gasoline and also floated the local currency in the wake of ongoing economic and fiscal reforms in the country. The inflation rate in Nigeria rose to 34.19 percent in June amid the worst cost of living crisis in the West African country.

–IANS

as/

Khartoum, July 30 (IANS) Prices hike and scarcity of basic commodities across Sudan have exacerbated the living conditions of citizens already grappling with the repercussions of an ongoing civil war in the country.

In Omdurman city, north of the capital Khartoum, the prices of basic commodities witnessed a significant rise.

“During the recent period, prices have increased by nearly 35 percent,” Hamdan Abdullah, a merchant at a market in the city’s Karari locality, told Xinhua.

Omer Idris, a resident from a south Khartoum neighborhood, said essential items such as rice, flour, meat, and milk are often unavailable due to high prices.

In Al-Manaqil city in Gezira State in central Sudan, the flow of necessary commodities to the city has stopped due to the security situation, fuel shortage, and the heavy rains, according to Mohamed Mekki Ibrahim, a resident of the city.

Most of western Sudan areas, including Darfur and Kordofan States, have also been suffering from shortages in basic commodities and prices hike.

Hawa Ishaq, a resident of the Dalang city in South Kordofan state, said, the prices have doubled, where a bag of maize now costs 300,000 Sudanese pounds, Xinhua news agency reported.

According to the Bank of Khartoum’s daily exchange rates of foreign currencies, the exchange rate of one dollar was 1,885 Sudanese pounds on Monday.

“People here eat tree leaves. We are trapped as the roads are closed, and we do not have any source of income. The city is lifeless,” she told Xinhua.

Similarly, the markets in Nyala, the capital city of South Darfur state, are also witnessing an unprecedented rise in commodity prices, where Yaqoub Adam, a merchant in the city, told Xinhua that the price of a bag of millet has jumped from 145,000 pounds to 190,000 pounds.

The World Food Programme has warned that the ongoing war in Sudan between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces “risks triggering the world’s largest hunger crisis.”

Sudan’s inflation rate reached 136.67 percent in the first half of 2024, the country’s Central Bureau of Statistics said in a press release on Monday.

Coinciding with the release on inflation rates on Monday, the Sudanese pound continued to decline against foreign currencies.

According to the Bank of Khartoum’s daily exchange rates of foreign currencies, the exchange rate of one dollar was 1,885 Sudanese pounds, the Euro was 2,009 pounds, the Saudi riyal was 508 pounds, and the UAE dirham was 519 pounds.

However, in the parallel market, the exchange rate of one dollar registered 2,700 Sudanese pounds, the Euro 2,935 pounds, the Saudi riyal 720 pounds, and the UAE dirham 736 pounds.

–IANS

as/

Tehran, July 30 (IANS) Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Tuesday took the oath of office before the Parliament, with dignitaries from nearly 90 countries present, to formally start his four-year term, and offered his country’s participation in solving regional and global issues.

After Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf delivered a speech at the start of the ceremony, Pezeshkian, 69, took an oath on the holy Quran.

As part of the oath, the President swore to use all his talents and qualities to perform the duties he has assumed as the President of the Islamic Republic.

In his address after his swearing-in, Pezeshkian urged the world “to seize the unique opportunity to solve regional and global problems with the participation of a powerful, peace-seeking, and dignified Iran”, Mehr News reported.

We will seek constructive and effective engagement with the world based on the principles of dignity, wisdom and expediency,” he said.

He stressed his administration’s readiness to continue negotiations with major global powers in order to remove the anti-Iran sanctions, reminding the West and Washington that Iran’s nuclear programme is peaceful as it has been verified by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

He stressed that Iran remained committed to its commitments under the nuclear deal.

“Pressure and sanctions do not work (in dealing with Iran),” Pezeshkian said in a remark aimed at the Western powers and called on them to “show respect to the noble Iranian nation”.

Citing the tragedy in Gaza, he slammed the United States and some Western states for delivering arms to Israel,

The Iranian President went on to call for a detente in the region, saying that “the countries in the region must not spend their valuable resources on conflict and war of attrition”.

“My administration wants a strong region,” he said, while adding that Iran wants to become the first power in economic, scientific, and technological fields at the regional level.

The inauguration ceremony, which began at 4 p.m. (local time) was attended by delegations from 88 countries and senior Iranian government officials.

Among those present at the ceremony were Tajikistan President Emomali Rahmon, and Prime Ministers Irakli Kobakhidze of Georgia, Nikol Pashinyan of Armenia, Hussein Arnous of Syria, and Manuel Marrero Cruz of Cuba.

Russia’s Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin, South African Foreign Minister Ronald Lamola, Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Ahmed Mohamed Abdel Ati, Saudi Arabian Minister of Interior Abdulaziz bin Saud bin Naif, Bahraini Foreign Minister Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani and European Union’s deputy foreign policy chief Enrique Mora were also present.

India was represented by Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari.

Pakistan Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar led his country’s delegation.

Among other foreign leaders that are participating are Qatar’s Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Sultan bin Saad bin Sultan Al Muraikhi, Kazakhstan Senate Chairman Ashimbayev Maulen Sagathanuly, Malaysia’s House of Representatives Speaker Tan Sri Dato Johari bin Abdul, and Senegal National Assembly’s President Amadou Mame Diop,

Hamas’ Head of the Political Bureau, Ismail Haniyeh, Hezbollah’s Deputy Secretary General Sheikh Naim Qassem, Palestinian Islamic Jihad Movement Secretary-General Ziad al-Nakhalah, and Yemen’s Ansarullah spokesman Mohammad Abdul Salam also participated in the ceremony.

The event comes two days after Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei endorsed the results of the recent presidential election, allowing Pezeshkian to begin his job as the ninth President of Iran.

–IANS

vd

Kyiv, July 30 (IANS) The situation in Ukraine’s energy sector has stabilized after massive power outages, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said Tuesday.

“The situation in the energy sector has stabilized due to the early completion of repairs at two nuclear power units and a drop in air temperature,” Shmyhal was cited as saying by the government press service.

The Ukrainian government has launched programs to support the development of distributed power generation and canceled import duties and value-added tax for energy equipment, such as power generators, inverters, batteries, and charging stations, Shmyhal said.

However, Ukraine’s power sector is still experiencing a drop in capacity, and the efforts to prepare the energy system for winter continue, Shmyhal added.

In recent months, Ukraine’s energy system has lost about 9 GW of its capacity due to Russian attacks, according to state-run energy company Ukrenergo, Xinhua news agency reported.

In March, the Ukrainian government introduced nationwide power supply restrictions, which applied to industrial and household consumers.

–IANS

as/

Moscow, July 30 (IANS) A growing national debt will most likely have no effect on the militaristic ambitions of the United States, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Tuesday.

The US federal government’s total public debt has surpassed 35 trillion U.S. dollars for the first time, as recorded at the end of last week, according to data released by the US Treasury Department on Monday. This has once again sparked concerns about the nation’s escalating debt problem and its potential impact on the world economy.

“Of course, the US, as one of the largest global economies, has a direct impact on the international economic situation,” Peskov said.

“However, it is unlikely that this whole situation will somehow hinder their militaristic ambitions,” he noted.

Meanwhile, he refuted the claims that Russia is trying to influence the upcoming US presidential election, calling it “absurd.”

“Every time the US exploits both Russia and (Russian President Vladimir) Putin in its internal political struggle, it causes new irreversible damage to Russia-U.S. relations,” he said.

–IANS

as/