Italy’s president has asked the former head of the European Central Bank, Mario Draghi, to form a new government after the previous coalition collapsed.

President Sergio Mattarella said Italy needed a “high-profile government” to tackle the Covid-19 pandemic and the worst economic crisis in decades.

Politicians failed to agree a coalition following the resignation of Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte last week.

Mr Draghi will now have to put forward an administration that leaders support.

He was summoned to Rome’s historic Quirinale Palace on Wednesday by President Mattarella, who gave Mr Draghi a mandate and said he hoped he would break the parliamentary stalemate.

In a brief statement after accepting the challenge, Mr Draghi said Italy was facing a “difficult moment” and that it was time for unity. “I am confident that in talks with parliamentary and other groups, we will find unity and the ability to find a responsible solution.”EPAWe have the extraordinary resources of the EU at our disposal, we have the opportunity to operate with a careful eye on future generationsMario Draghi

Italy’s financial markets welcomed the news that the country’s star technocrat had been brought in, with the Milan stock market up almost 3%. On paper, Mr Draghi has impeccable credentials, BBC Rome correspondent Mark Lowen reports.

Political parties have been divided over how to spend €222bn (£195bn; $267bn) of EU Covid recovery funds, amid a pandemic in which nearly 90,000 Italians have died – the sixth highest death toll in the world.

However, Italy’s anti-establishment Five Star Movement (M5S), which has been in government since 2018, has already said that it will not back a government led by Mr Draghi.

Sometimes referred to as “Super Mario” – after the hero Italian character in a Nintendo video game – Mr Draghi steered the eurozone through the financial crisis during his eight years as president of the European Central Bank (ECB).

Some analysts and commentators credit him with saving both the eurozone and the euro currency.

The eurozone financial crisis was already a serious problem when Mr Draghi took office at the ECB in November 2011. At its height, the crisis raised concerns that the eurozone could break up altogether.

Mr Draghi responded by promising to do “whatever it takes to preserve the euro”, calling for “urgent action” to implement a substantial bailout fund.

His call for governments to come together and play their role in tackling the debt crisis collectively was initially met with resistance from Germany, but it eventually paid off.

Economies began to grow and subsequently no country left the eurozone.

In his statement on Wednesday he said the challenges Italy now faced were “beating the pandemic, completing the vaccination campaign, offering answers to everyday challenges and getting the country back on track”.

“Mario Draghi was the Italian who saved Europe, and I think now he is the European who can save Italy,” former Prime Minister Matteo Renzi told the BBC’s Newshour programme.

FEC Approves Establishment Of 20 New Private Universities

The Federal Executive Council presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari, on Wednesday has approved a memo from the Ministry of Education for the establishment of 20 new private universities across the country.

The 20 new private universities are to be given provisional licenses to run for three years while the ministry monitors and evaluates their growth.

This brings the total number of private universities in the country to 99.

The universities approved by the FEC are:

• Topfaith University, Mkpatak, Akwa Ibom State.
• Thomas Adewumi University, Oko-Irese, Kwara State,
• Maranathan University, Mgbidi, Imo State,
• Ave Maria University, Piyanko, Nasarawa State, and
• Al-Istiqama University, Sumaila, Kano State.

Others are

• Mudiame University, Irrua, Edo State,
• HavillaUniversity, Nde-Ikom, Cross River State,
• Claretian University of Nigeria, Nekede, Imo State,
• NOK University, Kachia, Kaduna State and
• Karl-Kumm University, Vom, Plateau State.

Others are

• James Hope University, Lagos, Lagos State,
• Maryam Abacha American University of Nigeria, Kano, Kano State,
• Capital City University, Kano, Kano State,
• Ahman Pategi University, Pategi, Kwara State, and
• University of Offa, Offa, Kwara State.

Others are

• Mewar University, Masaka, Nasarawa State,
• Edusoko University, Bida, Niger State,
• PhilomathUniversity, Kuje, Abuja,
• KhadijaUniversity, Majia, Jigawa State and
• Anan University, Kwall, Plateau State.

Channel reveal that nine of the private universities are located in North Central, three in South South, two in South East, five of them in North West and one in South West.

Similarly, during the meeting, members observed a minute of silence for two late cabinet members who died recently.

The minute of silence was observed just before the commencement of the weekly meeting which was presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari  Council Chambers of the State House.

The former members are Alfa Wali and Tony Momoh.

Wali, a prominent Kano State indigene and former Minister of Agriculture, died on Monday, January 25th, 2021.

He also served as Permanent Secretary in many ministries, including the Ministry of Defence.

The late Momoh was a veteran journalist and politician who was Nigerian Minister of Information and Culture during the military regime of General Ibrahim Babangida, who died on February 1, 2020, at the age of 82.

Others members that attended the meeting were;

• The Vice-President, Yemi Osinbajo,
• Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha,
• Chief of Staff to the President, Ibrahim Gambari, and the
• National Security Adviser (NSA), Maj. Gen. Babagana Mongunu, as well as
• seven ministers physically, attended the meeting.

The ministers included;

• Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed;
• Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami;
• Mines and Steel Development, Olamilekan Adegbite, and
• Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that with the approval of additional 20 universities, Nigeria now has 99 private universities

Children in China are to be banned from using their phones in school, the Ministry of Education has ruled.

Pupils will not be allowed to bring mobiles to school without written parental consent.

The authorities say they want to protect young people’s eyesight, improve their concentration and prevent internet addiction.

Schools are being encouraged to find other ways for parents to communicate with children during the school day.

According to one of the country’s newspapers, China Daily, there has been heated debate among parents over the whether the ruling is practical.

The vast majority of children and teenagers in China access the internet via their own smartphones – 74% of under-18s, according to the government-affiliated China Internet Network Information Centre.

But the authorities are concerned about how internet use is affecting the health of the nation’s youth.

There have been rising levels of nearsightedness among children in China and in 2018, the authorities announced plans to regulate the gaming industry which was partially blamed for the problem. They also cited concerns that gaming addiction was damaging mental health.

The following year a curfew was imposed on under-18s, who were restricted to 90 minutes of gaming on weekdays and three hours on weekends and holidays

Many schools in China already restrict the use of mobile phones on their premises. In some extreme cases, phones have been smashed in front of students who have broken the rules.

The topic of a ban has become a major news item in China and on social media, with thousands discussing it on social media site Weibo.

Bashir Tofa, an Elder Statesman, has warned those stoking ethnic tension across the country to desist from doing so in order to avoid a serious crisis.

There has been tension in the country since an ultimatum was issued to herders to vacate the SouthWest over rising insecurity.

Sunday Igboho, Yoruba self-acclaimed activist, had first instigated crisis against the Fulani Community in Oyo State in January, leading to loss of lives and destruction of properties.

But peace was restored after Southern and Northern Stakeholders met in Ibarapa Local Government Area of Oyo where the initial violence took place.

Surprisingly on Tuesday, Igboho stormed Abeokuta in Ogun State, and one person was reportedly killed in the violence that ensued.

In a statement, Tofa called on the federal government to address the situation before it spirals out of control.

“The mayhem we see, almost everyday now, of killings and maiming of people of Northern extraction, including especially, the Fulani, in some other parts of the country, is totally unacceptable. There is clearly a nefarious plan by the enemies of this potentially great country to initiate a violent crisis that may lead to its
destruction.

“Tension is beginning to brew, and if revenge attacks on Southerners begin here in the North, it will be difficult to control. Our enemies from within and outside, some well known by our Security Agencies, are more determined than ever to set us against each other, so that we may get to a point of no return when the conflagration begun.
There is no part of this country that is at peace.

“Local and neighbouring, including foreign terrorist, are busy, fully armed, to cause whatever damage
they can inflict on our dear country. I, therefore, call on the President to take this insecurity and the tribal lynching
happening very seriously, and put up urgent measures to deal with them without any more delays. I am sure, there is concern at the Presidency and discussions are being held,” he said.

Tofa advised the federal government to take urgent and decisive action, adding: “If any Nigerian will not be allowed to live freely and conduct their lives and businesses in any part of the country without being disturbed or molested or
even killed, then no one should be allowed to settle and prosper anywhere else.

“Those foolish leaders and their stupid hirelings who encourage the expulsion of other Nigerians from their States, should remember that their own indigenes also live in other parts. They must stop, or the law should stop them by all means necessary.”

Donald Trump must be convicted because he is “personally responsible” for the riot at the US Capitol, House Democrats have said.

They detail the former president’s “incitement of insurrection against the republic he swore to protect” in a pre-trial brief released Tuesday.

It calls for him to be disqualified from ever running for office again.

Mr Trump has repeatedly denied his words led to the riot on 6 January.

Prior to the armed insurrection, thousands gathered at a “Save America” rally near the White House and listened to Mr Trump, who urged his supporters to “fight like hell” because “we won [the election] by a landslide”.

House impeachment managers said the former president’s repeated refusal to concede the election to Joe Biden encouraged the riot.

Mr Trump’s “statements turned his ‘wild’ rally on January 6 into a powder keg waiting to blow”, the brief says.

Impeachment managers plan to use Mr Trump’s own words and video footage of the riot to say that “the furious crowd” was “primed (and prepared) for violence if he lit a spark”.

“The evidence is clear. When other attempts to overturn the presidential election failed, former President Trump incited an attack on the Capitol,” it reads.

Lawyers for Mr Trump will argue in next week’s impeachment trial that convicting a now-private citizen would be unconstitutional.

In response, the impeachment managers from the House say the Senate has jurisdiction to act because “a president must answer comprehensively for his conduct in office from his first day in office through his last”.

“This is not a routine corruption charge,” they wrote. “Trump has committed an impeachable offense of historic proportions.”

Unlike in the case of Mr Trump’s first impeachment last year, Democrats have not indicated that they will call any witnesses.

Tanzania’s government, which has been criticised for its handling of the pandemic, has no plans to rollout Covid vaccines, the health minister says.

The comments come days after President John Magufuli warned officials against acquiring vaccines saying they could harm people, without giving evidence.

Critics have accused him of playing down the threat posed by the virus.

Millions of people have already been inoculated in many countries after the vaccines were given emergency approval.

Vaccines are rigorously tested in trials involving thousands of people before being assessed by health regulators. They look at all the data on the safety and effectiveness of vaccines before approving them for use on a wider population.

Last month, the World Health Organization (WHO) urged Tanzania to consider inoculating its population.

Tanzania is one of the few countries in the world to not publish any data on Covid-19 cases. It last did so in May, when about 500 cases and 20 deaths were recorded. The following month, Mr Magufuli declared Tanzania “coronavirus-free”.

Last month, the president said some Tanzanians had travelled abroad to take the vaccine but “ended up bringing us a strange coronavirus”. The comments were seen as an apparent admission that the virus may be circulating in the country.

At a news conference on Monday, Health Minister Dorothy Gwajima said: “For now the government has no plans to receive the Covid vaccine being distributed in other countries.”

The minister urged Tanzanians to take precautions and to use traditional medicine as a way of dealing with coronavirus, although their efficacy to combat the virus has not been scientifically confirmed

Two FBI agents have been killed and three others have been wounded during a shootout in Florida while serving an arrest warrant, according to the FBI.

The gunfire began around 06:00 local time (11:00GMT) in the city of Sunrise as agents were investigating a child abuse case, US officials say.

The suspect has also been killed. Asked how many bullets were fired, a police official replied: “Too many to count.”

The gunfight took place at an upscale gated community north of Miami.

“A team of law enforcement officers were there to execute a federal court-ordered search warrant in furtherance of a violent crimes against children case,” a statement from the FBI said.

The statement added that two of the agents had been transported to hospital and were in a stable condition. The deceased agents have not yet been named.