Headline

Incubatees In Edo LIFE-ND Graduate To Mentorship Phase

Published

3 years ago

March 1, 2022

Editor

Livelihood Improvement Family Enterprises in the Niger Delta (LIFE-ND) says youths and women (incubatees) engaged by the Edo State Project Coordinating Office have begun putting their acquired knowledge and experiences into practice.

INFO DAILY reports that Livelihood Improvement Family Enterprises in the Niger Delta (LIFE-ND) project in Edo State is being funded by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) and Edo State Government.

This, the project office said was made possible after they (incubatees) were adequately trained at their respective incubation centres by their incubators for some months.

The Edo State LIFE-ND project Coordinator, Mr. Jude Ekpu, disclosed this a statement signed by the project communication officer, Mr. Ben Akhamie, and made available to INFO DAILY in Benin City.

According to the statement, the project has engaged no fewer than two hundred and fifty (250) incubatees and fifty (50) incubators in the past eight months, adding that the first set of incubatees have learned the art of modern agricultural practice in their chosen commodity enterprises comprising cassava, rice poultry and fishery.

The statement added that out of these trained incubatees, eighty-two (82) have been so far supported with working capital by the project office and have moved from the apprenticeship phase to the mentorship phase.

“They have now been supported by LIFE-ND with working capital. 82 of these incubatees so supported with working capital have moved from the apprenticeship phase to the mentorship phase of the incubation process wherein the incubatees starts their own businesses under the supervision and guidance of the incubators.

“Amazingly, of these 82 youth and women so far supported with working capital, those into poultry enterprise have begun sales of their broilers and are very hopeful of making profits at the end of sales,” the statement added.

In his testimonial at one of the incubation centres of the project, Rews Farm, Evbarue Community, Mr. Efosa Aigbokan, who is into broiler production, in his testimonial expressed happiness for being part of the project in Edo State as it has transformed his life.

According to him, the project has empowered him with the knowledge and support to improve his livelihood. He has now taken agriculture as business as he is already making sales of his broilers.

Headline

42 Killed In Israeli Attacks, Says Gaza’s Civil Defense

Published

7 hours ago

August 24, 2025

Editor

Gaza’s civil defence agency reported at least 42 people killed in Israeli attacks on Sunday, as the Israeli army prepared for a new assault on the Palestinian territory’s largest city.

Civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal said there had been several air strikes around Gaza City — which the military is gearing up to capture — including one in the Al-Sabra neighbourhood that killed eight people.

Attacks were also reported elsewhere across the territory, he said, with the “total tally currently rising to 42 dead”.

The army did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the figure.

“The situation is extremely dangerous… Each day, each minute, there are bombings, martyrs, death and blood — we can’t take it anymore,” Al-Sabra resident Ibrahim Al-Shurafa told AFP, explaining strikes and shelling were ongoing.

“We don’t know where to go. Death follows us everywhere,” he added.

Media restrictions in Gaza and difficulties in accessing many areas mean AFP is unable to independently verify the tolls and details provided by the civil defence agency or the Israeli military.

The October 2023 Hamas attack on Israel that sparked the war resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.

Israel’s offensive has killed at least 62,686 Palestinians, most of them civilians, according to figures from the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza that the United Nations considers reliable.

AFP

Headline

Venezuela Frees Eight Opposition Leaders

Published

7 hours ago

August 24, 2025

Editor

Venezuelan authorities released eight opposition leaders from jail early Sunday, including a former congressman and two Italian citizens, and granted house arrest to five others, an opposition politician said.

Most of those released had been charged with corruption in opposition-run mayoral offices.

Also set free was Congressman, Amirico de Grazia, detained amid protests that erupted during President Nicolas Maduro’s reelection in 2024.

“Today, several families are once again embracing their loved ones. We know there are many left, and we have not forgotten them; we continue to fight for everyone,” two-time former presidential candidate Henrique Capriles said on X.

Opposition leaders Victor Jurado, Simon Vargas, Arelis Ojeda Escalante, Mayra Castro, Diana Berrio, Gorka Carnevalli, as well as Italian nationals Margarita Assenzo and de Grazia were released, Capriles said.

Nabil Maalouf, Valentin Gutierrez Pineda, Rafael Ramirez, Pedro Guanipa, and David Barroso were placed under house arrest.

The Italian government confirmed the release of de Grazia and Assenzo, who must appear in court to clarify the conditions of their release. It also vowed to continue working on securing the release of other detained Italians.

“We have always said, and we maintain it: we will talk to whomever we need to talk to so that there is not a single political prisoner in our Venezuela!” Capriles added.

AFP

Headline

Russia, Ukraine Exchange Prisoners Of War, Civilians

Published

7 hours ago

August 24, 2025

Editor

Russia and Ukraine each sent back more prisoners of war on Sunday in the latest in a series of exchanges that have seen hundreds of POWs released this year, the two sides said.

Large-scale prisoner exchanges were the only tangible result of three rounds of talks between Russia and Ukraine in Istanbul between May and July.

They remain one of the few areas of cooperation between the two countries since Russia’s offensive began in 2022.

“On August 24, 146 Russian servicemen were returned from the territory controlled” by Kyiv, the Russian defence ministry said on Telegram.

“In exchange, 146 prisoners of war of the Ukrainian Armed Forces were transferred” to Ukraine, it added. Ukraine did not confirm any figures for the release.

Russia also said that “eight citizens of the Russian Federation—residents of the Kursk region, illegally detained” by Kyiv were also returned.

Ukrainian forces launched a surprise incursion into Russia’s Kursk region in August last year, seizing hundreds of square kilometres (miles) of territory in a major setback for the Kremlin.

Russia deployed thousands of troops from its ally North Korea as part of a counterattack but did not fully reclaim the region until April.

Among the Ukrainians released on Sunday was journalist Dmytro Khyliuk, President Volodymyr Zelensky said.

Khyliuk was kidnapped in the Kyiv region in March 2022. He is finally home in Ukraine,” Zelensky said on social media.

Also freed was former Kherson mayor Volodymyr Mykolayenko, “who spent more than three years in captivity,” Zelensky’s aide Andriy Yermak wrote on X.

“In 2022, he was on the list for return, but Volodymyr voluntarily refused to be exchanged in favour of a seriously ill prisoner with whom he was sharing a cell in a Russian prison,” Yermak said.

AFP