Month: April 2022

Dozens were thought to have been working at the refining plants in Imo state, southern Nigeria, when they were caught in the huge fire.

Many were burnt beyond recognition.

Poverty and unemployment have made illegal oil refining an attractive business for many residents of the oil-rich communities in southern Nigeria.

The death toll has risen as emergency workers go through the scene. Ifeanyi Nnaji of the National Emergency Management Agency told BBC Igbo that the number killed now stood at 109.

“We learnt many bodies are in nearby bushes and forests as some illegal operators and their patrons scampered for safety,” he earlier told the AFP news agency.

The authorities have been struggling to curb the proliferation of the illegal plants where stolen crude oil is refined.

It is not yet clear what caused the explosion that happened sometime overnight into Saturday, but accidents have been common in the past at similar dangerous sites where safety measures are not enforced.

There have been concerns over a lack of precautions at such facilities as well as environmental pollution.

But Nigeria’s official oil refineries do not work to capacity, causing frequent fuel shortages and price increases across the country.

After a divisive election campaign, Ms Le Pen faces an uphill battle with her 44-year-old opponent polling ahead.

In order to win they both need to attract voters who backed other candidates in the first round.

But these are two polarising figures in France and abstention is a key factor.

Mr Macron’s detractors call him arrogant and a president of the rich, while the far-right leader has been accused of having ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Some 48.7 million people are eligible to take part and by midday (10:00 GMT) turnout was down on five years ago at 26.4%, but not as low as in the first round two weeks ago. First projections of who has won will come at 20:00.

Marine Le Pen was first of the two candidates to vote, which she did in her stronghold in Hénin-Beaumont. As she arrived, she sheltered a baby boy from the sun and told him: “I will protect you.”

Mr Macron voted later in the northern resort of Le Touquet alongside his wife, Brigitte. He rose to power on a whirlwind promise of change, but many complain they are yet to see it.

His presidency has been buffeted by protests, the Covid pandemic and now the rising cost of living.

Marine Le Pen, meanwhile, has learned from the mistakes she made when she was resoundingly beaten by the same opponent in the second round in 2017. This is her third tilt at the presidency and if she fails it could be her last.

The great unknown in this election is how many voters will refuse to back either candidate, whether by casting a blank ballot or not turning out at all. Much of France is on holiday and turnout in parts of Paris appeared to be lower than usual.

The campaign has been short but the choice for voters is clear, between a pro-European sitting president and a nationalist candidate who seeks to ban the headscarf and restrict immigration.

Whatever the result, Mr Macron will address voters on Sunday evening from a stage at the foot of the Eiffel Tower.

The rising cost of living – described in France as pouvoir d’achat or spending power – has become the number one issue for French voters and Marine Le Pen has promised voters an immediate onslaught on it if she wins.

She has fared particularly well in the smaller towns and rural areas that have struggled economically during the Macron era.

She came top two weeks ago in La Ferté-sous-Jouarre, a pretty town on the River Marne an hour east of Paris. Sitting outside a bar, Cécile says the pandemic hit the area particularly hard: “Before Covid there was a bar here called Avenue de Champagne, but that shut and now the place is dead after 7pm.”

She will vote Le Pen as will Fred, who works on the Paris metro network: “People can’t afford to pay for gas and electricity. When I’m in Paris some things are too expensive and you have to eat.” African immigrants he knows in the capital also say they will vote for her, he adds.

There are plenty of shy Le Pen voters here too. France needs to change, they say, and they leave it at that.

She has carefully moderated her views, but still plans a referendum on strict immigration controls and her idea for a “Europe of nations” would tear the EU apart.

Jean-Claude, 66, may not agree with her hostility to the EU, but he complains too many people take advantage of France’s welfare system and take drugs.

They say the search is continuing in frigid waters for 16 others who were on board the Kazu 1 vessel.

Contact with the boat was lost after it said it was taking on water at 13:15 local time (04:15 GMT) on Saturday.

The Kazu 1 is believed to have been on a three-hour sightseeing voyage around the Shiretoko Peninsula.

The area is a designated UNESCO world heritage site, and boat trips are popular with tourists hoping to spot whales and sea lions as well as brown bears on the rocky beaches.

The crew managed to signal that the vessel was tipping at a 30-degree angle and starting to sink, according to Japanese media.

Patrol boats and police and military aircraft were immediately dispatched to find the vessel. Local fishing boats were also taking part in the search operation.

Of the 26 on board, two were crew and two were children.

Earlier reports suggested that several people were pulled out of the waters – but it is unclear if they are among the confirmed 10 victims.

Waves in the area had been high and local fishing boats had apparently decided to return to port by mid-morning.

The crew reportedly said that all those on board were wearing life jackets.

But temperatures in the area can dip as low as 0C (32F) when night falls.

The PM has come under increasing pressure from MPs after being fined by the police for attending a party in No 10 during the first lockdown.

Some senior Tories have now joined opposition calls for Mr Johnson to go.

But Oliver Dowden said changing leader right now “would not be in the national interest”.

Speaking to the BBC’s Sunday Morning programme, the party chairman said the UK faced “unparalleled challenges” over national security and energy supplies, and it was right for the prime minister to focus on that.

But Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said the PM’s authority was “shot through”, and the so-called partygate scandal was stopping Parliament discussing issues like the cost of living crisis.

The SNP’s Westminster leader, Ian Blackford, also said Mr Johnson now had “no moral authority” to lead after being fined for breaking Covid laws.

Last week, Mr Johnson – along with his wife and Chancellor Rishi Sunak – was fined by police for attending a birthday party thrown in his honour in the Cabinet Room in June 2020.

It is one of more than 50 fixed penalty notices handed out by the Metropolitan Police since it began its investigation into the law-breaking parties in Downing Street and across Whitehall.

And it was the first time a sitting prime minister had been found to have broken the law.

The PM repeatedly said sorry to Parliament on Tuesday, saying while he did not think he was going against regulations at the time, he accepted the force’s decision and wanted to now focus on getting on with the job.

But Labour deemed his apology “a joke”, and along with resignation calls from the SNP and Liberal Democrats, a number of senior Tories said it was time for Mr Johnson to go.

Former Brexit Minister Steve Baker told the Commons “the gig is up”, and warned in the Daily Telegraph that partygate had been “a disaster”, adding: “I fear we will reap the whirlwind on polling day.”

On Thursday, MPs also voted for an investigation by a parliamentary committee to take place over whether the prime minister misled the House over his statements on No 10 parties.

Knowingly misleading MPs is a resigning offence under the ministerial code.

Mr Dowden defended his boss, telling the BBC: “I understand how people feel really hurt and angry about this, and I think the prime minister acknowledged that properly in what he said – he gave a full and unreserved apology.

“But I think you do need to balance against that first of all the really good things he has done as prime minister, whether that’s delivering the vaccine programme, getting Brexit done, or the actions in Ukraine.

“But also the challenges we face right now, whether that’s national security, or whether that’s energy security – these unparalleled challenges.

“And I actually think that instability and uncertainty caused by a change in leadership would not be in the national interest.”

But Labour’s leader said Mr Johnson was to blame for the focus on parties.

Sir Keir told the BBC: “Why are we talking about this? Answer: because the prime minister has broken the rules he made, and been fined by the police for doing it.

“No prime minister in the history of our country has even been in that position before. So he’s brought this on himself.”

He added: “His moral authority, his authority to lead, is shot through and his own side have now had enough of defending him.”

Boris Johnson told Mr Zelensky more armoured vehicles, drones and anti-tank weapons would be sent to Ukraine, a Downing Street spokesman said.

Mr Zelensky thanked the PM for the training of more than 20 Ukrainian troops who arrived in the UK last week.

Ukraine was invaded by Russia two months ago this weekend.

Mr Johnson also confirmed the UK would be reopening its embassy in Kyiv next week, a move first announced yesterday.

The No 10 spokesman said this was a demonstration of “our support and solidarity with the Ukrainian people”.

The Ukrainian soldiers receiving training in the UK are being instructed on how to use 120 armoured vehicles that will be supplied to the resistance effort against Moscow, the government has said.

President Zelensky updated Mr Johnson on the situation in the Donbas, where Russia has been concentrating its military efforts in recent days. Both leaders condemned ongoing attacks by Russian forces against civilian targets, including in Mariupol, Odessa and Lviv.

The prime minister told Mr Zelensky Russia would be held to account for its actions and that the UK government was helping to collect evidence of war crimes. He also updated the president on new UK sanctions against members of the Russian military, Downing Street said.

The two leaders discussed how the UK would work with partners to develop a long-term security solution for Ukraine and spoke about discussions taking place with other nations and groups to provide further financial support, including at a G7 finance ministers’ meeting last Wednesday.

They also agreed on the importance of establishing a ceasefire and humanitarian corridor to allow civilians to leave the besieged Ukrainian city of Mariupol. The talks came as Ukrainian officials said Russian forces had started attacking a steel plant in the battered port city, in an apparent bid to eliminate the last stand by Ukrainian defenders.

An estimated 1,000 civilians remain sheltered in the Azovstal plant alongside the remaining 2,000 fighters.

President Zelensky and Russian leader Vladimir Putin are both due to meet United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres in the coming week, with the long-awaited prospect of a humanitarian corridor to allow people to leave Mariupol expected to be on the agenda.

In a news conference in a Kyiv metro station later on Saturday, Mr Zelensky said he was “satisfied” with the level of military support coming from the UK.

“We want more than we’re being given, but we’re satisfied,” he told reporters.

“We cannot refuse or reject anything during the war from the biggest military aid, which is coming from the United States and the United Kingdom.

“There are many other friends in Europe, but I’m talking about volumes of help and I’m grateful for it.”