Kosovo citizens can travel to the European Union without a visa from 2024 after the European Parliament gave the green light on Tuesday.

The vote by the EU legislature in Strasbourg, France, was the last legal step required to grant visa-free travel to Kosovo citizens after member states gave their backing in March.

Under the new rules, which could apply even before 2024, people with Kosovo passports could travel to the EU without a visa and stay for up to 90 days in any 180 days.

Today’s “decision on visa liberalisation is a victory for the people of Kosovo, for democracy and European unity,” wrote Vjosa Osmani, the president of Kosovo, on Twitter.

Kosovo is the last country in the Western Balkans region to be granted visa-free travel to the bloc.

Last year, Kosovan Prime Minister Albin Kurti announced that his country intended to make an official application for EU membership by the end of 2022.

Coachella Music Festival has been handed a $117K fine for violating the City of Indio’s curfew. Pitchfork reported that the fines come after the festival ran for over 20 minutes past its approved curfew on each day from April 14 to April 16.

The festival ran 25 minutes past its curfew on Friday (April 14), 22 minutes on Saturday (April 15) and 25 minutes on Sunday (April 16). The fines are part of an agreement between Coachella organizer, Goldenvoice, and the city of Indio, California dating back to 2013.

According to the agreement, going five minutes past the curfew will result in a $20,000 fine for each day, with every subsequent minute costing $1,000. The fines allegedly go towards the city’s General Fund, which is used for operating costs, public works and police and fire departments.

Frank Ocean‘s headlining set on Sunday ran 25 minutes past curfew, thanks in part to the singer starting his set an hour late. His set was one met with multiple controversies, beginning with its scheduled livestream being cancelled just hours before he was supposed to perform. After starting his set late, it was abruptly brought to an end after being told that he was out of time. It has also since been reported that several last-minute changes were made to his set after he allegedly injured his ankle during on-ground rehearsals.

History was also made during the recent music festival as Bad Bunny became the first Latin artist to headline the festival, and Blackpink became the first K-pop act to headline.

The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has granted an approval to Serum Institute Pvt. Ltd. (SIIPL) for the use of the R21 malaria vaccine in the country.

At a news conference on Monday, NAFDAC Director-General Mojisola Adeyeye said the granting of registration/approval was in line with the agency’s mandate as stipulated by its enabling law — NAFDAC Act CapN1, Law of the Federation of Nigeria (LFN) 2004.

She said the Marketing Authorisation Holder (MAHs) for the vaccine is Fidson Healthcare Ltd, which had the agency’s Drug and Related Products Registration Regulation 2021.

According to Ms Adeyeye, the R21 malaria vaccine is an adjuvanted protein vaccine presented as a sterile solution.She explained that “a dose, which is 0.5ml, is composed of R21 Malaria antigen 5µg and Matrix-M1 50µg as an adjuvant filled in a vial as a ready-to-use liquid formulation for intramuscular injection.’’

The NAFDAC boss said that the vaccine is indicated for preventing clinical malaria in children from five to 36 months, adding that the storage temperature of the vaccine is 2-8 °C.

Ms Adeyeye said the agency received the dossier of the R21 Malaria manufactured by SIIPL and subjected it to independent review at two different levels.

She said that as a matured regulatory agency, it is expected as part of global benchmarking that an external advisory committee was put in place to advise on invitations on certain functions of the agency.

She said that as a new biological molecule being considered for full registration, the independent review by an external body became imperative to safeguard public health further.

According to her, the external advisory body known as NAFDAC’s Vaccine Advisory Committee (NEVAC) comprises four highly recognised and well-published experts from Nigeria’s tertiary institutions.

Ms Adeyeye said the agency also had an in-house Vaccine Review Committee (NEVAC) extracted from different directorates of NAFDAC to oversee, evaluate, and carry out clinical trials on vaccines before approval was made.

She said that the R21 Malaria Vaccine dossier complied substantially with the best international standards with which the dossier was benched-marked.

The NAFDAC boss said it became necessary to approve the vaccine following the 2021 World Malaria Report that Nigeria had the highest number of global malaria cases of 27 per cent.

She said the highest number of deaths stood at 32 per cent of global malaria deaths in 2020, adding that Nigeria accounted for an estimated 55.2 per cent of malaria cases in West Africa in 2020.

“Malaria is one of the most important public health concerns in the world. The latest World Health Organization (WHO) Malaria Report showed there were 247 million cases of malaria in 2021 compared to 245 million cases in 2020,” she said.

She explained that the estimated number of malaria deaths was 619,000 in 2021 compared to 625,000 in 2020.

“Over the two peak years of the pandemic (2020–2021), COVID-related disruptions led to about 13 million more malaria cases and 63000 more malaria deaths.

“Children under five years of age accounted for about 80 per cent of all malaria deaths in the region.

Four African countries accounted for just over half of all malaria deaths worldwide, with Nigeria, 31.3 per cent; the Democratic Republic of the Congo, 12.6 per cent; the United Republic of Tanzania, 4.1 per cent; and Niger, 3.9 per cent, respectively.”

A man, Moses Gibson, from Minneapolis, Minnesota in the United States, has undergone a leg surgery to add five inches to his height after struggling to talk to women for years due to self-doubt about his stature.

Gibson said he had been insecure about his height since he was 15 years old, after witnessing other boys his age go through growth spurts that he did not, Daily Mail reports on Wednesday.

He tried medications and even contacted a ‘spiritual healer’ online who claimed to be able to help him in a desperate attempt to grow taller.

Gibson eventually decided to have surgery to increase his height after all other options failed.

Speaking of his struggles with his height, he said;

“I’ve struggled with my height. Even when I was in high school, I was always unhappy with my height.

“When I was like 15, I realised most of my peers were taller than me. It started getting to me gradually.”

He learned about a procedure that could lengthen his legs, and he began working extra hours to save up enough money for the surgery during college.

After working as a software engineer during the day and as an Uber driver at night for three years, he underwent surgery to add three inches to his height in 2016, but seven years later has had a second round and is using a height lengthening device.

Doctors broke Gibson’s tibia and fibula bones and inserted magnetic, limb-lengthening nails into them.

He must now use a height-lengthening device three times per day, pulling the cut bones apart one millimeter at a time.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) says relocation of newly-arrived Somali refugees in Ethiopia has begun.

The refugees fled recurring clashes between security forces and clan leaders in Las Anod in northern Somalia, with 1,036 of the most vulnerable people transferred from border areas to a new settlement over the past three days.

The UN agency said thousands of people have arrived in the Somali region of Ethiopia seeking safety since clashes started in mid-February.

As of last week, Ethiopia’s Refugees and Returnees Service had registered 91,000 people with the UNHCR’s support. Refugees continue to arrive, fleeing ongoing violence in their home country, the UNHCR said.

“Most of them are women, children, and older people; among them are more than 3,400 unaccompanied and separated children and adolescents,’’ it said.

According to the UNHCR, refugee families are biometrically registered upon arrival and provided with a tent and other essential relief items to set up a new home.

Ethiopia has generously allocated 400 hectares of land where refugees can settle and access existing services, such as health care, water, and education.

It added that while Ethiopian families hosted many refugees in their homes, others who crossed into Ethiopia remained in overcrowded shelters or were sleeping outdoors and requiring urgent assistance.

In March, the UNHCR and humanitarian partners launched an inter-agency emergency refugee response plan of US$ 116 million to address the immediate critical needs faced by refugees and host communities in this area.

Ethiopia has welcomed refugees for decades and currently hosts nearly 990,000 refugees from neighbouring countries like South Sudan, Somalia, Eritrea, and Sudan, the UNHCR said.

World number five Ons Jabeur secured her first title of the season on Sunday with a 7-6 (8-6) 6-4 victory over Belinda Bencic in the Charleston Open final.

Jabeur, 28, enjoyed the best campaign of her career in 2022 as she reached the finals of Wimbledon and the U.S. Open.But she was sidelined due to knee trouble following this year’s Australian Open.

The Tunisian returned with early exits at the Indian Wells Open and Miami Open, meaning she came into Charleston without consecutive wins since early January.

But she looked right back to her best at the WTA 500 event, not dropping a set the entire tournament.

Jabeur beat Lesia Tsurenko, Caroline Dolehide, Anna Kalinskaya and Daria Kasatkina to reach the final.

But she had to respond to early adversity against Bencic as the Swiss secured a break in the opening game of the first set.

Down 5-4 in the opener, Jabeur broke back at the last opportunity to keep the set alive. And after falling 6-4 behind in the tie-break, she rattled off the next four points in a row to steal it.

The second set was all about making the most of her chances, as Jabeur only had three break-point chances compared to Bencic’s five.But she was able to convert all three, while Bencic could only snag two.

The final was a rematch from last year’s Charleston Open title match, where Bencic prevailed over Jabeur in three sets.It is Jabeur’s first title since the German Open in June, where she again had to overcome Bencic in the final.

Jabeur now leads their head-to-head 3-2 in matches played at the WTA Tour level.

Israel Adesanya knocked out long-time rival, Alex Pereira, to regain the UFC middleweight belt in the early hours of Sunday at Miami.

Adesanya came out for revenge against Pereira who gave him a TKO in the final round last November, stripping him of his middleweight belt.

But Adesanya bounced back from his last defeat to become UFC middleweight champion again, brutally knocking out Pereira in the second round.

It was the fourth clash between Adesanya and Pereira with former U.S. President Donald Trump, Mike Tyson and UFC president, Dana White, and a host of others in attendance.

The Lagos State police command on says it has rescued two victims from kidnappers’ den in the Ikorodu area of the state.

Operatives busted the kidnapper’s hideout on Thursday night.

There was a fierce exchange of fire by the police officer and kidnappers, a member of the kidnappers gang was killed in the process.

Police spokesperson in Lagos, Benjamin Hundeyin said two abducted victims were rescued and ammunition were recovered at the scene.

“Yes, the incident is true; the Police are on top of the situation, and the tension has been calmed. Two kidnapped victims were rescued at the scene,” Mr Hundeyin said.

Former Italian prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi has been diagnosed with leukemia, according to Corriere della Sera, a top Italian newspaper.

Berlusconi, 86, a right wing politician, was hospitalized on Wednesday April 5, with breathing problems.

His spokesman, Paolo Russo, did not deny the reports of ill health when asked, and said he is “not authorized to give health info but the Corriere della Sera is the most authoritative Italian newspaper.”

A second spokesperson for the Forza Italia party leader did not deny the report when contacted by the publication.

The controversial politician has served three stints as Italy’s prime minister, most recently between 2008 and 2011, before being banned from politics for six years following a conviction for tax fraud.

Berlusconi returned to frontline politics in 2022 when he won a seat in Italy’s Senate, representing the northern municipality of Monza.

In 2021 he was hospitalized for treatment for the symptoms of long Covid-19, according to the press office of his Forza Italia party.

He also spent time in the hospital the previous year after contracting the coronavirus, and had a 2016 heart surgery to replace an aortic valve.